Scour
/skaʊər/noun
To clean or scrub something vigorously, or to search quickly and thoroughly.
Did you know?Scour entered English through Old French and is ultimately tied to a Latin root meaning “to scrape off,” which is why the word still carries that harsh, abrasive energy today.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sker-
“to cut, scrape, or separate”
Latin
Latin
excurare
“to scrape out or clean out”
Old French
Old French
escourre
“to cleanse or rinse by scraping”
Middle English
English
scouren
“to clean by hard rubbing or scrubbing”
Modern English
English
scour
“to clean vigorously or search thoroughly”