Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Proficiency, facility, or dexterity that is acquired or developed through training or experience.
  • noun A developed talent or ability.
  • noun An art, trade, or technique, particularly one requiring use of the hands or body.
  • noun Obsolete A reason; a cause.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To set apart; separate.
  • Hence, to discern; have knowledge or understanding (to); know how: usually with an infinitive.
  • To have perception or comprehension; have understanding; discern: followed by of or on.
  • To have personal and practical knowledge (of); be versed or practised; hence, to be expert or dexterous: commonly followed by of.
  • To make difference; signify; matter: used impersonally, and generally with a negative.
  • noun The discriminating or reasoning faculty; the mind.
  • noun Discriminative power; discernment; understanding; reason; wit.
  • noun Reasonableness; propriety; rightness; justice; proper course; wise measure; also, rightful claim; right.
  • noun Reasoning; argument; proof; also, cause; reason.
  • noun Practical knowledge and ability; power of action or execution; readiness and excellence in applying wisdom or science to practical ends; expertness; dexterity.
  • noun A particular power, ability, or art; a gift or attainment; an accomplishment.
  • noun That for which one is specially qualified; one's forte.
  • noun Synonyms Facility, knack. See adroit.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To know; to understand.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To be knowing; to have understanding; to be dexterous in performance.
  • intransitive verb To make a difference; to signify; to matter; -- used impersonally.
  • noun obsolete Discrimination; judgment; propriety; reason; cause.
  • noun obsolescent Knowledge; understanding.
  • noun The familiar knowledge of any art or science, united with readiness and dexterity in execution or performance, or in the application of the art or science to practical purposes; power to discern and execute; ability to perceive and perform; expertness; aptitude
  • noun obsolete Display of art; exercise of ability; contrivance; address.
  • noun obsolete Any particular art.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To set apart; separate.
  • verb transitive To discern; have knowledge or understanding; to know how (to).
  • verb intransitive To have knowledge or comprehension; discern.
  • verb intransitive To have personal or practical knowledge of; be versed or practised; be expert or dextrous.
  • verb intransitive, archaic To make a difference; signify; matter.
  • noun Capacity to do something well; technique, ability. Skills are usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities, which are often thought of as innate.
  • adjective UK, slang great, excellent

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an ability that has been acquired by training
  • noun ability to produce solutions in some problem domain

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English skil, from Old Norse, discernment; see skel- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English skilen (also schillen), partly from Old English scylian, scielian ("to separate, part, divide off"); and partly from Old Norse skilja ("to divide, separate"); both from Proto-Germanic *skilōnan, *skiljanan (“to divide, limit”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kalǝ-, *(s)kelǝ- (“to split, cut”). Cognate with Danish skille ("to separate, discard"), Swedish skilja ("to distinguish, differentiate, part"), Icelandic skilja ("to understand"), Dutch schelen ("to make a difference").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English skill, skille (also schil, schile), from Old English *scile and Old Norse skil ("a distinction, discernment, knowledge"), from Proto-Germanic *skilin (“separation, limit”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kalǝ-, *(s)kelǝ- (“to split, cut”). Cognate with Danish skel ("a separation, boundary, divide"), Swedish skäl ("reason"), Dutch verschil ("difference").Dutch schillen (verb) ("to sperate the outer layer (schil) from the product").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word skill.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.