Shred
/ʃrɛd/noun
A small strip or fragment cut or torn from something.
Did you know?Shred is an old English word that originally meant a piece cut off or a fragment, and its deep Germanic relatives are tied to ideas of cutting and splitting rather than any mystical meaning.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
scrēad
“A piece cut off; a shred or fragment”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*skraudą
“A cut piece, fragment”
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sker-
“To cut, shear, split”
Middle English
ME
shrede
“A fragment or strip torn or cut from cloth, paper, or similar material”
Modern English
English
shred
“A small strip or fragment cut or torn from something”