Share

How to spell share

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce share

What does share mean?

1. verbTo give a portion of something to others, or to use or experience something jointly.
2. nounA part or portion of something divided among a number of people.
3. nounOne of the equal units into which the ownership of a company is divided.

Share in a sentence

• verb

  The two colleagues agreed to share the cost of the taxi.

• noun

  Each sibling received an equal share of the inheritance.

• noun

  He bought a single share in the company as a keepsake.

• verb

  Young children gradually learn to share their toys.

• noun

  She has done more than her fair share of the work this week.

• noun

  The price of each share rose sharply after the results.

Where does share come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Share goes back to the Old English noun scearu, meaning 'a cutting' or 'a division', which belonged to the same Germanic family as sceran, 'to cut or shear'. The underlying idea was a part that has been cut off from a larger whole, which is exactly why your 'share' of something is the piece divided out to you. The verb sense of 'giving a portion to others' grew naturally from this noun and was well established by the 1500s. The financial meaning, a unit of ownership in a company, emerged in the 1600s as joint stock ventures divided their capital into equal parts. The word remains a close cousin of 'shear', 'share' (the cutting blade of a plough), and even 'shire', all carrying that ancient sense of cutting or dividing.

How the word is built

• share (from Old English scearu: a cutting, division), a single unanalysable root with no prefix or suffix