Skrike

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. To utter a sharp, piercing cry or scream, often from fear, pain or excitement
2. Making a high-pitched, harsh outcry that rings out sharply as a sudden shriek
3. Giving voice to a loud, shrill sound such as a screech or wail

Etymology: The verb "skrike" is an English word from the Middle English period, borrowed from Old Norse "skríkja," meaning "to scream." That Norse verb is related to the Old English "sċrīċ" and "sċrēċ," the ancestors of the modern English "shriek" and "screech," so the family resemblance is no accident. The two words share a common Germanic root, and the Old Norse form entered English as a sound-imitating cry. Here the story gets unusual. The Norse noun from which the verb descends meant "bird with a shrill call," a name for the thrush, which was likely chosen because the bird's call sounded like a piercing shriek. In other words, the word began as the name of a singing bird before it came to describe a human cry. The verb form and its noun use appear in English from the Middle English period, with the noun shown as "scryke" and "skryche" in various spellings, and the cognate forms in Old Frisian and Middle Low German suggest the word circulated widely across the North Sea region.