'shorn' comes from the verb 'shear', which in English is from Old English 'scēarian' (or 'sceran'), meaning 'to cut'.

'shear' originates from Old English 'scēarian' and Proto-Germanic *skeraną 'to cut'; the past participle developed in Middle English as forms like 'schorn'/'shorn' and became the modern English 'shorn'.

Initially it meant 'cut off by cutting' (literal cutting); over time it retained the literal sense and also developed a figurative sense of 'stripped' or 'deprived'.