'sheathe' originates from Old English, specifically the word 'scēath' (also attested as 'sceaðu'), where the root meant 'cover' or 'wrap'.

'sheathe' changed from Middle English words such as 'shethe' (also spelled 'schethe') and eventually became the modern English word 'sheathe'.

Initially, it referred to 'a protective covering (a sheath)'; over time it evolved into the verb sense 'to put into a sheath' and the adjectival sense 'covered with a sheath'.