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What Is The Origin Of The Word "Share"?

Remember when we were kids in the cafeteria and all we shared were Lunchables and the answers to that first period math quiz? Now kids share just about anything just for a “like” on Instagram. So, where did this word come from?

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Idioms about share

    on / upon shares, on the principle of sharing the profits or losses of an undertaking: They agreed to work on shares.

Origin of share

1
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English noun shar(e), sharre “cutting, division,” Old English scearu “fork of the body, groin”; cognate with Dutch schaar, German Schar “troop”; see shear

synonym study for share

7. Share, partake, participate mean to join with others or to receive in common with others. To share is to give or receive a part of something, or to enjoy or assume something in common: to share in another's experiences. To partake is to take for one's own personal use a portion of something: to partake of food. To participate is especially to join with others in some thought, feeling, or, particularly, some action: to participate in a race, in a conversation.

OTHER WORDS FROM share

Other definitions for share (2 of 2)

share2
[ shair ]
/ ʃɛər /

noun

Origin of share

2
First recorded before 900; Middle English shar(e), sharre, Old English scear, scer; cognate with German Schar; see shear
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use share in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for share (1 of 2)

share1
/ (ʃɛə) /

noun
a part or portion of something owned, allotted to, or contributed by a person or group
(often plural) any of the equal parts, usually of low par value, into which the capital stock of a company is divided: ownership of shares carries the right to receive a proportion of the company's profitsSee also ordinary shares, preference shares
go shares informal to share (something) with another or others
verb
(tr often foll by out) to divide or apportion, esp equally
(when intr, often foll by in) to receive or contribute a portion ofwe can share the cost of the petrol; six people shared in the inheritance
to join with another or others in the use of (something)can I share your umbrella?

Derived forms of share

sharable or shareable, adjectivesharer, noun

Word Origin for share

Old English scearu; related to Old Norse skor amount, Old High German scara crowd; see shear

British Dictionary definitions for share (2 of 2)

share2
/ (ʃɛə) /

noun
short for ploughshare

Word Origin for share

Old English scear; related to Old Norse skeri, Old High German scaro
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with share

share

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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