A shirt is a piece of clothing worn on the upper body, usually with sleeves and a collar. It often buttons up the front and can be worn alone or under a jacket.
“Shirt” comes from Old English “scyrte,” related to “skirt.” Both words go back to a Germanic root about short garments. Over time, English split the upper-body garment (shirt) from the lower-body or long garment (skirt).
Shirt and skirt are actually etymological siblings—one for the top half, one for the bottom half. They both trace back to the same ancient root but took different paths in English. Once you know that, the spelling suddenly feels less random.
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