Shingle
SHINGLE, (i) A Middle English corruption of schindle, from Lat. scindula or scandula, a wooden tile, from scandere, to cut a kind of wooden tile, generally of oak, used in places where timber is plentiful, for covering roofs, spires, etc. In England they are generally plain, but on the continent of Europe the ends are sometimes rounded, pointed or cut into ornamental form. (2) Water- worn detritus, of larger and coarser form than gravel, chiefly used of the pebbly detritus of a sea-beach. This word is of Norwegian origin, from singl or singling, coarse gravel. It is apparently derived from singla, to make a ringing sound, a form of " to sing," with allusion to the peculiar noise made when walking over shingle. (3) The word " shingles," the common name of herpes zoster, a particular form of the inflammatory eruption of the skin known as herpes (q.v.), is the plural of an obsolete word for a girdle, sengle, taken through O. Fr. cengle from Lat. cinguluni, cingere, to gird.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
