An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/scharf

by Friedrich Kluge

scharf, adjective, ‘sharp, acrid, acute,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German scharf, scharpf; in the same sense occur the corresponding forms Old Saxon scarp, Dutch scherp, Anglo-Saxon sčearp, English sharp, Old Icelandic skarpr; Gothic *skarpa- is by chance not recorded. In the sense of ‘sharp, cutting,’ the following are also allied: — Old High German scrëvôn, ‘to cut in,’ Old High German scarbôn, Middle High German and Modern High German scharben, ‘to cut in pieces,’ as well as Anglo-Saxon sčeorfan, ‘to tear off’ (see schürfen), Middle High German schrapfe (Gothic *skrappô), ‘tool for scratching,’ English to scrape; yet the final labials present a difficulty. Old High German and Middle High German sarpf, as an equivalent variant of scharf, is abnormal, so too Old Icelandic snarpr, ‘sharp.’ From Teutonic are derived French escarper, ‘to cut steep down, escarp,’ escarpe, ‘slope,’ Italian scarpa, ‘slope; locksmith's chisel.’ In the non-Teutonic languages Greek ἅρπη, ‘sickle,’ Old Slovenian srŭpŭ, ‘sickle,’ are allied to Old High German sarf, though, of course, this does not explain the form scharf, Gothic *skarpa-, which is perhaps connected with the Teutonic root skrap (skrab, skrb), ‘to slit, cut in’ (see schröpfen).