From Proto-Italic *kortos, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kr̥tós (“short”), from *(s)ker- (“to cut”). Cognate with Proto-Slavic *kortъkъ (“short”), Scots short, schort (“short”), Old High German scurz (“short”) (Middle High German schurz, Old Norse skorta (“to lack”) (Danish skorte), (maybe) Albanian shkurt (“short, brief”), English short. More at shirt.