skill

English Online Dictionary. What means skill‎? What does skill mean?

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: skĭl, IPA^(key): /skɪl/
  • (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): [skɪɫ]
  • (l-vocalizing: UK, General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): [skɪo̯], [skɪʊ̯]
• Rhymes: -ɪl

Etymology 1

From Middle English skill, skille (also schil, schile), from Old English scille and Old Norse skil (“a distinction, discernment, knowledge”), from Proto-Germanic *skilją (“separation, limit”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“to split, cut”). Cognate with Danish skel (“a separation, boundary, divide”), Swedish skäl (“reason”), Dutch verschil (“difference”) and schillen (“to separate the outer layer (schil) from the product”, verb).

Alternative forms

• skil (obsolete)

Noun

skill (countable and uncountable, plural skills)

1. Capacity to do something well; technique, ability. Skills are usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities, which are often thought of as innate.

   Synonyms: ability, talent; see also Thesaurus:skill
2. (obsolete) Discrimination; judgment; propriety; reason; cause.
3. (obsolete) Knowledge; understanding.
4. (obsolete) Display of art; exercise of ability; contrivance; address.

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

skill (comparative skiller, superlative skillest)

1. (UK, slang) Great, excellent. [1980s–1990s]
   • 1991, Wreckers (video game review in Crash issue 88, May 1991)

     This game is skill. Remember that because it's going to sound really complicated.

Etymology 2

From Middle English skilen (also schillen), partly from Old English scilian (“to separate, part, divide off”); and partly from Old Norse skilja (“to divide, separate”); both from Proto-Germanic *skilōną, *skiljaną (“to divide, limit”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“to split, cut”). Cognate with Danish skille (“to separate, discard”), Swedish skilja (“to distinguish, differentiate, part”), Icelandic skilja (“to understand”), Low German schelen (“to make a difference; to be squint-eyed”), Dutch schelen (“to make a difference”).

Verb

skill (third-person singular simple present skills, present participle skilling, simple past and past participle skilled)

1. (transitive) To set apart; separate.
2. (transitive, chiefly dialectal) To discern; have knowledge or understanding; to know how (to).
3. (transitive, dialectal, Scotland, Northern England, rare) To know; to understand.
   • 17th century, Isaac Barrow, “On Industry in Our Particular Calling as Scholars,”

     […] to skill the arts of expressing our mind and imparting our conceptions with advantage, so as to instruct or persuade others […]

4. (intransitive) To have knowledge or comprehension; discern.
5. (intransitive) To have personal or practical knowledge; be versed or practised; be expert or dextrous.
6. (intransitive, archaic) To make a difference; signify; matter.
7. (video games) To spend acquired points in exchange for skills.

Synonyms

• (separate): split (call management systems)

References

• Skel i “skill” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

Anagrams

• Kills, kills

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

skill

1. imperative of skille