# shed

> English word · Verb · IPA /ʃɛd/ · frequency rank #4,894

## Definitions
1. To part, separate or divide.
2. To part with, separate from, leave off; cast off, cast, let fall, be divested of.
3. To pour; to make flow.
4. To allow to flow or fall.
5. To radiate, cast, give off (light).
6. To pour forth, give off, impart.
7. To fall in drops; to pour.
8. To sprinkle; to intersperse; to cover.
9. To divide, as the warp threads, so as to form a shed, or passageway, for the shuttle.

## Etymology
From Middle English scheden, schede, from Old English scēadan, scādan (“to separate, divide, part, make a line of separation between; remove from association or companionship; distinguish, discriminate, decide, determine, appoint; shatter, shed; expound; decree; write down; differ”), from Proto-West Germanic *skaiþan, from Proto-Germanic *skaiþaną (compare West Frisian skiede, Dutch and German scheiden), from Proto-Indo-European *skeyt- (“to cut, part, divide, separate”), from *skey-.
See also Irish scian (“knife”), Lithuanian skėsti (“to spread”), ski̇́esti (“to separate”), Old Church Slavonic цѣдити (cěditi, “to filter, strain”), Ancient Greek σχίζω (skhízō, “to split”), Old Armenian ցտեմ (cʻtem, “to scratch”), Sanskrit च्यति (cyáti, “he cuts off”)). Related to shoad, shit, sheath.

## Easily confused with
- **sue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shed-vs-sue)
- **shy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shed-vs-shy)
- **Sid** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shed-vs-sid)
- **shi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shed-vs-shi)
- **STD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shed-vs-std)
- **SPD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shed-vs-spd)
- **sod** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shed-vs-sod)
- **SSD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shed-vs-ssd)
- **sho** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shed-vs-sho)
- **Syd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shed-vs-syd)
- **sie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shed-vs-sie)
- **SME** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shed-vs-sme)
- **SSE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shed-vs-sse)
- **shh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shed-vs-shh)
- **soe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shed-vs-soe)
- **sud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shed-vs-sud)
- **SLE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shed-vs-sle)
- **show** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shed-vs-show)
- **shit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shed-vs-shit)
- **shot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shed-vs-shot)

## Common misspellings (6)
`hsed`, `sehd`, `shde`, `shedd`, `shhed`, `sshed`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/shed