An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/schürfen

by Friedrich Kluge

schürfen, vb., ‘to scratch, scrape, dig,’ from MidHG. schürfen, schürpfen, ‘to cut up,’ to which schürfœre, ‘flayer, executioner,’ OHG. scurfen, ‘to cut up,’ and AS. scrëpan, sceorpan, are allied. Probably connected with the root skrëp, skërp, ‘to be sharp.’ See scharf, schrappen, and schröpfen.