An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Schiefer

by Friedrich Kluge

Schiefer, masculine, ‘slate, shist,’ from Middle High German schiver, schivere, masculine, ‘splinter of stone, and especially of wood,’ Old High German scivaro, ‘splinter of stone’; the modern meaning is Modern High German only (in Upper German the primary meaning ‘stone splinter’ has been preserved). Gothic *skifra, masculine, is wanting. Allied to Modern High German Schebe, feminine, ‘chaff, boon’ (of flax or hemp), which is derived from Low German; compare English shive (Anglo-Saxon *sčîfa); Middle English schivere (Anglo-Saxon *sčifera), English shiver. These are derivatives of a Teutonic root skī̆f, ‘to divide, distribute’; compare Anglo-Saxon sčiftan, ‘to divide,’ English to shift, Old Icelandic skipta, ‘to divide’ (Old Icelandic scífa, ‘to cut in pieces'; allied to Scheibe? or to this word?), Dutch schiften, ‘to separate, sever.’ Schiefer and Schebe are literally ‘fragment, participle’