An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Schuft

by Friedrich Kluge

Schuft, masculine, ‘wretch, rascal, scamp,’ Modern High German only, formed from Low German schuft, Dutch schoft, which is usually derived from Low German schuf ût, ‘thrust out’; compare Dutch schavuit, ‘rascal,’ literally ‘scrape out’; hence Schuft, literally ‘offscouring’?.