Scare
Middle English: from Old Norse skirra ‘frighten’, from skjarr ‘timid’.
wiktionary
From Middle English sker, skere(“terror, fright”), from the verb Middle English skerren(“to frighten”) (see below).
From Middle English scaren, skaren, scarren, skeren, skerren, from Old Norse skirra(“to frighten; to shrink away from, shun; to prevent, avert”), from Proto-Germanic *skirzijaną(“to shoo, scare off”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-(“to swing, jump, move”). Related to Old Norse skjarr(“timid, shy, afraid of”). Cognate with Scots skar(“wild, timid, shy”), dialectal Norwegian Nynorsk skjerra, dialectal Swedish skjarra and possibly Old Armenian ցիռ(cʿiṙ, “wild ass”).
scare ( comparative more scare, superlative most scare)
etymonline
scare (v.)
1590s, alteration of Middle English skerren (c. 1200), from Old Norse skirra "to frighten; to shrink from, shun; to prevent, avert," related to skjarr "timid, shy, afraid of," of unknown origin. In Scottish also skair, skar, and in dialectal English skeer, skear, which seems to preserve the older pronunciation. To scare up "procure, obtain" is first recorded 1846, American English, from notion of rousing game from cover. Related: Scared; scaring.
scare (n.)
"something that frightens; sudden panic, sudden terror inspired by a trifling cause, false alarm," 1520s, alteration of Middle English sker "fear, dread" (c. 1400), from scare (v.). Scare tactic attested from 1948.
