Where Does the Word Skeleton Come From?

Engraving of skeleton.

The word "skeleton" refers to the bones of a body or a framework for something such as an outline for a paper. Skeleton comes from Latin words that were formed from Greek.

Greek

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the Greek words that skeleton came from are skeletos, which means "dried up" as in a mummy, and skleros which means "hard."

Latin

The Latin word sceleton, taken from its Greek predecessors, means "bones, bony framework of the body" and refers to skeleton in a medical sense.

First Usage

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, skeleton made its first appearance in the English language around 1578.

Historical Appearances

Derivations from a literal skeleton to a figurative one appeared shortly after. In 1607 skeleton was used to refer to the minimum necessary, giving rise to the phrase skeleton crew recorded in 1778.

Fun Fact

Most bones of the skeleton are based on Latin words. Some have to do with function and others have to with the location of the bone in the body, while still other names may be based on the bone's shape.

References

• Online Etymology Dictionary
• Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Resources

• History of Halloween Related Words