Cognate with Scots scat ( “ tax, levy, charge, payment, bribe ” ), West Frisian skat ( “ treasure, darling ” ), Dutch schat ( “ treasure, hoard, darling, sweetheart ” ), German Schatz ( “ treasure, hoard, wealth, store, darling, sweetheart ” ), Swedish skatt ( “ treasure, tax, duty ” ), Icelandic skattur ( “ tax, tribute ” ), Latin scateō ( “ gush, team, bubble forth, abound ” ).

From Middle English scet, schat, from Old English sceatt ( “ property, goods, owndom, wealth, treasure payment, price, gift, bribe, tax, tribute, money, goods, reward, rent, a tithe a piece of money, a coin denarius, twentieth part of a shilling ” ) and Old Norse skattr ( “ wealth, treaure, tax, tribute, coin ” ) both from Proto-Germanic *skattaz ( “ cattle, kine, wealth, owndom, goods, hoard, treasure, geld, money ” ), from Proto-Indo-European *skatn-, *skat- ( “ to jump, skip, splash out ” ).