Etymology
The word is recorded in English since 1481, as shadde, possibly a variant of shade. The word shade comes from the Old English word "sceadu", which means "shade, shadow, darkness". The term's P.Gmc. cognate, "skadwo" also means "shady place, protection from glare or heat".
The Old English word is spelled in different ways, such as "shadde", "shad" or "shedde", all of which come from an "Old Teutonic/Anglo-Saxon root word for separation or division". The first attested usage of the word, in 1481, was in the sentence, "A yearde in whiche was a shadde where in were six grete dogges". The Anglo Saxon word "shud", which means "cover" may also have been part of the development of the word. In 1440, a "shud" was defined as a "... schudde, hovel, swyne kote or howse of sympyl hyllynge to kepe yn beestys".
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