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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

shelf.

A flat, rigid structure, fixed at right angles to a wall or forming a part of a cabinet, desk, etc., and used to display, store, or support objects.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ʃɛlf/

  1. A flat, rigid structure, fixed at right angles to a wall or forming a part of a cabinet, desk, etc., and used to display, store, or support objects.

    We keep the old newspapers on the bottom shelf of the cupboard, and our photos on the top shelf.

  2. The capacity of such an object

    a shelf of videos

  3. A projecting ledge that resembles such an object.

  4. The part of a repository where shelvesets are stored.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel(H)-p-der. Proto-Germanic *skelfōder. Proto-West Germanic *skelfu:der. Proto-West Germanic *skilfijā Old English sċylfe? Middle English schelfe English shelf From Middle English schelfe, probably from Old English sċylfe, sċilfe (“shelf, ledge, deck of a ship”), from Proto-West Germanic *skilfijā, from Proto-Germanic *skelfō (“shelf, ledge, cliff”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“to cut”), distantly related to sculpt, carve and shell. Cognate with Dutch schelf (“hay loft, haystack”), German Low German Schelf (“haystack”), Old Norse skjalf (“bench”).

noun/ʃɛlf/

  1. A reef, sandbar, or shoal.

Where this word comes from

Of obscure origin; evidently identical to Middle English shelp (“sandbar in a river”), but the sound shift is unexpected. Shelp might be from Old English scylp (“crag”) or Middle Dutch schelp-.

verb/ʃɛlf/

  1. Alternative form of shelve.

    alt-of · alternative
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel(H)-p-der. Proto-Germanic *skelfōder. Proto-West Germanic *skelfu:der. Proto-West Germanic *skilfijā Old English sċylfe? Middle English schelfe English shelf From Middle English schelfe, probably from Old English sċylfe, sċilfe (“shelf, ledge, deck of a ship”), from Proto-West Germanic *skilfijā, from Proto-Germanic *skelfō (“shelf, ledge, cliff”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“to cut”), distantly related to sculpt, carve and shell. Cognate with Dutch schelf (“hay loft, haystack”), German Low German Schelf (“haystack”), Old Norse skjalf (“bench”).

verb/ʃɛlf/

  1. Alternative form of shelve.

    alt-of · alternative
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.