skull

B2 Topic:The Human Body

US /ˈskʌl/ See IPA manual

Freq #3002

Meanings

1

noun
The bony framework of the head that protects the brain.

The helmet is designed to protect the skull in a crash.
2

noun
A person's head, mind, or brain.

Get it into your skull that I'm not going to change my mind.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

brainboxbrainpan cranium harnpan

Word family

Forms skulls

Derived forms crackskulldeathskullfuckskullhot-skullnumbskullnumskullpopskullpseudo-skullrattleskullsapskullskull-fuckskull-like

Etymology

From Middle English sculle, scolle (also schulle, scholle), probably from a dialectal form of Old Norse skalli (“bald head, skull”), itself probably related to Old English sċealu (“husk”), to Proto-Norse *ᛋᚲᚨᛚᛟ (*skalo), from Proto-Germanic *skallô; compare Finnish skallo. Compare Scots scull, Danish skal (“skull”) and skalle (“bald head, skull”), Norwegian skalle, Swedish skalle and especially dialectal Swedish skulle. Related to Old Norse skoltr (“brow”), skolptr (“muzzle, snout”), akin to Icelandic skoltur (“jaw”), dialectal Swedish skult, skulle (“dome, crown of the head, skull”), Norwegia…

*(s)kelH- Proto-Indo-European sculle Middle English skalli Old Norse *ᛋᚲᚨᛚᛟ gmq-pro *skallô Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

The Human Body

External links

# skull

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈskʌl/
**Frequency rank:** 3002

## Meanings
1. The bony framework of the head that protects the brain.
2. A person's head, mind, or brain.

## Examples
- The helmet is designed to protect the skull in a crash.
- Get it into your skull that I'm not going to change my mind.

## Synonyms
- brainbox
- brainpan
- cranium
- harnpan

## Derived Forms
- crackskull
- deathskull
- fuckskull
- hot-skull
- numbskull
- numskull
- popskull
- pseudo-skull
- rattleskull
- sapskull
- skull-fuck
- skull-like

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *(s)kelH-
- Root: sculle
- Root: skalli
- Root: *ᛋᚲᚨᛚᛟ
- Root: *skallô

## Etymology
From Middle English sculle, scolle (also schulle, scholle), probably from a dialectal form of Old Norse skalli (“bald head, skull”), itself probably related to Old English sċealu (“husk”), to Proto-Norse *ᛋᚲᚨᛚᛟ (*skalo), from Proto-Germanic *skallô; compare Finnish skallo. Compare Scots scull, Danish skal (“skull”) and skalle (“bald head, skull”), Norwegian skalle, Swedish skalle and especially dialectal Swedish skulle. Related to Old Norse skoltr (“brow”), skolptr (“muzzle, snout”), akin to Icelandic skoltur (“jaw”), dialectal Swedish skult, skulle (“dome, crown of the head, skull”), Norwegia…

## AI Etymology
Skull comes from Middle English sculle, scolle (also schulle, scholle), probably from a dialectal form of Old Norse skalli (“bald head, skull”), itself probably related to Old English sċealu (“husk”), to Proto-Norse *ᛋᚲᚨᛚᛟ (*skalo), from Proto-Germanic *skallô; compare Finnish skallo. Compare Scots scull, Danish skal (“skull”) and skalle (“bald head, skull”), Norwegian skalle, Swedish skalle and especially dialectal Swedish skulle. The historical chain includes *(s)kelH- (Proto-Indo-European), sculle (Middle English), skalli (Old Norse), *ᛋᚲᚨᛚᛟ (gmq-pro), and *skallô (Proto-Germanic). The surrounding word family includes derived forms such as crackskull, deathskull, fuckskull, and hot-skull. In present use it covers the bony framework of the head that protects the brain and a person's head, mind, or brain.

## Topics
- The Human Body

markdown