# shirt

> English word · Noun · IPA /ʃɜːt/ · frequency rank #2,366

## Definitions
1. An article of clothing that is worn on the upper part of the body, and often has sleeves, either long or short, that cover the arms.
2. An interior lining in a blast furnace.
3. A member of the shirt-wearing team in a shirts and skins game.

## Etymology
From Middle English sherte, shurte, schirte, from Old English sċyrte (“a short garment; skirt; kirtle”), from Proto-West Germanic *skurtijā, from Proto-Germanic *skurtijǭ (“a short garment, skirt, apron”), from *skurtaz (“short”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Schoarte (“apron”), Dutch schort (“apron”), German Schürze (“apron”), Danish skjorte (“shirt”), Norwegian skjorte (“shirt”), Swedish skjorta (“shirt”), Faroese skjúrta (“shirt”), Icelandic skyrta (“shirt”).
Doublet of skirt via Old Norse; further related to short.

## Easily confused with
- **sir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shirt-vs-sir)
- **sit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shirt-vs-sit)
- **shit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shirt-vs-shit)
- **shot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shirt-vs-shot)
- **sort** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shirt-vs-sort)
- **shut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shirt-vs-shut)
- **suit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shirt-vs-suit)
- **stir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shirt-vs-stir)
- **spit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shirt-vs-spit)
- **Shri** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shirt-vs-shri)
- **slit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shirt-vs-slit)
- **sire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shirt-vs-sire)
- **Siri** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shirt-vs-siri)
- **skit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shirt-vs-skit)
- **shiv** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shirt-vs-shiv)
- **sift** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shirt-vs-sift)
- **silt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shirt-vs-silt)
- **start** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shirt-vs-start)
- **short** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shirt-vs-short)
- **smart** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shirt-vs-smart)

## Common misspellings (8)
`hsirt`, `shhirt`, `shirrt`, `shirtt`, `shitr`, `shrit`, `sihrt`, `sshirt`

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