An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Schurz

by Friedrich Kluge

Schurz, m., Schürze, f., ‘apron,’ from MidHG. schurz, m., ‘shortened garment, apron’; allied to OHG. scurz, ‘short,’ AS. sčęort, E. short, whence also MidHG. schürzen, ‘to shorten, tuck up the dress under the girdle to make it shorter below, gird up.’ A Teut. derivative skurtjôn is also indicated by AS. *sčyrte, E. shirt, OIc. skyrta, ‘shirt’ (OIc. skorta, ‘to be in want of’). These genuinely Teut. cognates imply a Teut. root skrt (MidHG. schërze, m., ‘piece cut off’), which has not yet been found elsewhere. With regard to the union of this word with Lat. curtus in some languages, see under kurz.