Shaving
/ˈʃeɪ.vɪŋ/noun
The act of cutting hair or another surface closely with a razor or similar tool.
Did you know?The verb shave originally meant broadly “to scrape,” linking an ordinary grooming act to ancient words for scratching, cutting, and digging.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*skap- / *skabʰ-
“To cut, scrape, or scratch; a reconstructed ancestral root”
Proto-Germanic
Germanic
*skabjaną
“To scrape or shave”
Old English
Old English
scafan
“To scrape, shave, or remove a thin layer”
Middle English
Middle English
shaven / schaven
“To cut hair closely or scrape a surface”
14th Century
English
shaving
“The act of cutting or scraping closely; also material scraped off”
Modern English
English
shaving
“The act of removing hair or a thin surface layer with a blade”