'Show' flipped perspective — it meant 'to look at' before meaning 'to cause others to look.'
To cause or allow to be visible; to display, exhibit, or present for others to see; to demonstrate or prove.
From Old English 'scēawian' meaning 'to look at, see, observe, inspect,' from Proto-Germanic *skawwōną (to look, see), possibly from PIE root *kewh₁- (to observe, perceive). The original meaning was 'to look at,' not 'to display' — the semantic reversal from the viewer's act to the displayer's act occurred during the Middle English period. This is a rare case of a verb flipping its perspective from the observer
Old English 'scēawian' meant 'to look at' — the exact opposite perspective from modern 'show,' which means 'to cause someone else to look.' The word completely reversed its viewpoint during the Middle Ages: it went from describing what the observer does (looking) to describing what the exhibitor does (displaying). German 'schauen' preserves the original meaning — it still means 'to look at.'
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