- scarp (n.)
- "steep slope," 1580s, from Italian scarpa "slope," probably from a Germanic source, perhaps Gothic skarpo "pointed object," from Proto-Germanic *skarpa- "cutting, sharp" (source also of Middle High German schroffe "sharp rock, crag," Old English scræf "cave, grave"), from PIE *(s)ker- (1) "to cut" (see shear (v.)).
