Etymology

English Wikipedia has an article on:

skerry

Wikipedia

From dialectal ScotsCategory:English terms borrowed from Scots#SKERRYCategory:English terms derived from Scots#SKERRY (Shetlandic and Orcadian) skerry, from Old NorseCategory:English terms derived from Old Norse#SKERRY sker (whence Danish skær and Norwegian Bokmål skjær). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-EuropeanCategory:English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#SKERRY *(s)ker-.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈskɛɹi/Category:English 2-syllable words#SKERRYCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#SKERRY

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

    Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#SKERRY
• Rhymes: -ɛɹiCategory:Rhymes:English/ɛɹi#SKERRYCategory:Rhymes:English/ɛɹi/2 syllables#SKERRY
• Homophone: scary (only in accents with the Mary–marry–merry merger)Category:English terms with homophones#SKERRY

Noun

skerry (plural skerries)Category:English lemmas#SKERRYCategory:English nouns#SKERRYCategory:English countable nouns#SKERRYCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#SKERRYCategory:Pages with entries#SKERRYCategory:Pages with 2 entries#SKERRY

1. A small rocky island which may be covered by the sea at high tide or during storms.
   • 1805, George Barry, History of the Orkney Islands, page 322:

     The Seal (phoca vitulina, Lin. Syft.) which is here generally known by the name of selchy, is very common on most of our low shores, but particularly on those of the small holms and remote skerries, where it is frequently seen reposing and basking in the sun [...].

     Category:English terms with quotations#SKERRY

   • 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 266:

     His companions were very unwilling to leave him on the skerries, perhaps to perish, but the surge increased so fast that after many unsuccessful attempts to bring the boat in close to the stacks, they were obliged to depart and leave the unfortunate man to his fate.

     Category:English terms with quotations#SKERRY

   • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 182:

     The fog disappeared gradually, disclosing the blue line of the coast and the far outlying naked skerries, while before us lay the ocean in its interminable extent, blushing in the morning sun.

     Category:English terms with quotations#SKERRY

   • 1997, Bernard Scudder, transl., Egil's Saga, Penguin Books, page 46:

     Grim the Halogalander's crew sailed along Borgarfjord beyond the skerries, then cast anchor until the storm died down and the weather brightened up.

     Category:English terms with quotations#SKERRY

   • 2000, Jeremy Gaskell, Who Killed the Great Auk?, Oxford University Press, page 20:

     The three men proceeded, with a little difficulty, to scale the skerry, finding Gannets and Guillemots on the upper reaches.

     Category:English terms with quotations#SKERRY

Anagrams

• skryer

Etymology

Borrowed from Old NorseCategory:Scots terms borrowed from Old Norse#SKERRYCategory:Scots terms derived from Old Norse#SKERRY sker, from Proto-GermanicCategory:Scots terms derived from Proto-Germanic#SKERRY *skarją, from Proto-Indo-EuropeanCategory:Scots terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#SKERRY *(s)ker- (“to cut”).

Noun

skerry (plural skerries)Category:Scots lemmas#SKERRYCategory:Scots nouns#SKERRYCategory:Scots entries with incorrect language header#SKERRYCategory:Pages with entries#SKERRYCategory:Pages with 2 entries#SKERRY

1. (chiefly Insular ScotsCategory:Insular Scots#SKERRY) skerry, reef
   • 2004, Sheena Blackhall, The Humpty Dumpty Man:

     Tae the icy flowes o the Shetlan voes he sailed tae Scalloway, / There his sweethairt won, far a Viking sun shines ower the skerries grey.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

     Category:Scots terms with quotations#SKERRYCategory:Requests for translations of Scots quotations#SKERRY

Further reading

• “skerry”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.