Skot
/skɒt/noun
A contribution or payment made toward a common fund, especially in Scots or dialectal English.
Did you know?Skot belongs to the same Germanic word family as “shot,” whose older sense included something thrown or cast—an amount paid was metaphorically your cast into the common pot.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*skeud-
“To shoot, propel, or drive quickly”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*skutą
“Something thrown, a shot, or a contribution”
Old Norse
Old Norse
skot
“A shot, throw, share, or contribution”
Middle Scots
Scots
skot
“A payment or contribution to a common expense”
16th–17th Century
Scots English
skot
“A person's share of a collective payment”
Modern English
English
skot
“A chiefly Scots or dialectal contribution to a common fund”