Show Search Results Show Browse

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Quotation dates: 1874-1899

[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]

†SHOOI, n. Also shooy, schooi; sjui (Jak.). The Arctic skua, Stercorarius parasiticus (Sh. a.1838 Jam. MSS. XII. 197, 1908 Jak. (1928), 1951 Shetland Folk-Bk. 32). [′ʃui]Sh. 1874 H. L. Saxby Birds Sh. 157:
There is not an ill that bird-flesh is heir to, which the Shooi cannot convince you he is afflicted with.Sh. 1899 Evans & Buckley Fauna Shet. 196:
The Shoois are compelled to choose their quarters at some little distance from those of the Bonxie.

[Jak. suggests deriv. from Norw. dial. tjuvlo, id., < tjuv, a thief, from the bird's parasitical habits. Lockwood Zeitschrift für Anglistik III. 280 thinks the orig. form of the word to be *kjói which became in Faer. kjo(gv)i, very sim. in pronunciation to Faer. tjóv-, a thief, and hence the transference of form and meaning to the latter. But there are various phonological difficulties. There is no connection with Skooie.]

You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.

"Shooi n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 6 Feb 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/shooi>

23536

snd

Hide Advanced Search

Browse SND:

    Loading...

Share: