First use appears c. 1633, in the publications of Shackerley Marmion, apparently from association with shark (verb), or otherwise directly from German Schurke (“rogue, knave”).
Meanings
One who shirks, who avoids a duty or responsibility.
I may add here that, coming as the soldiers did from all avocations and stations in life, these details for fatigue often brought together men few of whom had any practical knowledge of the work in hand; so that aside from the shirks, who could work but would not, there were other who would but could not, at least intelligently. 1887, John Davis Billings, Hardtack and Coffee, Or, The Unwritten Story of Army Life, pages 101–102:
First use appears c. 1633, in the publications of Shackerley Marmion, apparently from association with shark (verb), or otherwise directly from German Schurke (“rogue, knave”).
Meanings
(transitive) To avoid, especially a duty, responsibility, etc.; to stay away from.
Back in school, you ever get busted for trynna walk and have some administrator tell you / "Son, you can shirk your obligations, / and try to be different from your peers, / but responsibility, your future / is gonna find you!" 1989, “Gonna Find You”, in Operation Ivy (CD), performed by Operation Ivy, Lookout Records, →OCLC:
the usual makeshift by which they try to shirk difficulties 1826, Julius Hare, Guesses at Truth by Two Brothers:
(intransitive) To evade an obligation; to avoid the performance of duty, as by running away.
If you have a job, don't shirk from it by staying off work.
Shapiro and Stiglitz (1984) develop a dynamic model in which firms induce workers to work hard by paying high wages and threatening to fire workers caught shirking. 1992, Robert Gibbons, A Primer in Game Theory, Prentice-Hall, page 107:
September 7, 1830, Lord Byron, letter to Mr. Murray
One of the cities shirked from the league.
(transitive) To procure by petty fraud and trickery; to obtain by mean solicitation.
You that never heard the call of any vocation, […] that shirk living from others, but time from yourselves. 1635, Bishop Rainbow, Sermons:
it dare buca ((transitive) avoid a duty) · eo eskapeviti ((transitive) avoid a duty) · ru уклоня́ться ((transitive) avoid a duty) · de kneifen ((transitive) avoid a duty) · ru безде́льничать ((transitive) avoid a duty) · tr kaytarmak ((transitive) avoid a duty) · sv smita från ((transitive) avoid a duty) · es escaquearse de ((transitive) avoid a duty) · es pavear ((intransitive) to evade an obligation) · nn skulke ((transitive) avoid a duty) · es chacharse ((intransitive) to evade an obligation) · eo eviti ((transitive) avoid a duty) · ka თავს არიდებს ((transitive) avoid a duty) · fi pinnata ((transitive) avoid a duty) · es rehuir ((intransitive) to evade an obligation) · fr esquiver ((transitive) avoid a duty) · eo eskapi ((transitive) avoid a duty) · nb skofte ((transitive) avoid a duty) · ru ло́дырничать ((transitive) avoid a duty) · de sich drücken ((transitive) avoid a duty) · nl ontduiken ((transitive) avoid a duty) · de meiden ((transitive) avoid a duty) · az boyun qaçırmaq ((transitive) avoid a duty) · es pirar ((intransitive) to evade an obligation) · es capar ((transitive) avoid a duty) · nl zijn plicht ontlopen ((transitive) avoid a duty) · ru уви́ливать ((transitive) avoid a duty) · cs utíkat ((transitive) avoid a duty) · ro fofila ((transitive) avoid a duty) · pt esquivar ((transitive) avoid a duty) · de ausweichen ((transitive) avoid a duty) · cs utéct ((transitive) avoid a duty) · el λουφάω ((transitive) avoid a duty) · ru сачкова́ть ((transitive) avoid a duty) · de aus dem Weg gehen ((transitive) avoid a duty) · az yayınmaq ((transitive) avoid a duty) · sv undvika ((transitive) avoid a duty) · pl wykręcić się ((transitive) avoid a duty) · pl bumelować ((intransitive) to evade an obligation) · nl zich drukken ((transitive) avoid a duty) · mi whakataha ((transitive) avoid a duty) · pl wykręcać się ((transitive) avoid a duty) · it sottrarsi ((transitive) avoid a duty) · cs vyhýbat se ((transitive) avoid a duty) · bg кръшкам ((transitive) avoid a duty) · es fumarse ((transitive) avoid a duty) · de umgehen ((transitive) avoid a duty) · vi trốn tránh ((transitive) avoid a duty) · nb skulke ((transitive) avoid a duty) · it scansare ((transitive) avoid a duty) · es zafarse ((intransitive) to evade an obligation) · tr kaçınmak ((transitive) avoid a duty) · cs vyhnout se ((transitive) avoid a duty) · cmn 逃避 ((transitive) avoid a duty) · es escaquearse ((intransitive) to evade an obligation) · nn skulka ((transitive) avoid a duty) · it eludere ((transitive) avoid a duty) · pl wymigiwać się ((transitive) avoid a duty) · es ratearse ((intransitive) to evade an obligation) · es capear ((transitive) avoid a duty) · pl wymigać się ((transitive) avoid a duty) · fr éviter ((transitive) avoid a duty) · es correrse ((intransitive) to evade an obligation) · bg клинча ((transitive) avoid a duty) · is koma sér undan ((transitive) avoid a duty) · fr se défiler ((transitive) avoid a duty) · mi whakatataha ((transitive) avoid a duty) · ro eschiva ((transitive) avoid a duty)
(uncountable) The unforgivable sin of association (claiming something or someone can share in the oneness of God).
A person can have committed shirk in their lifetime and still find forgiveness (especially by saying the Shahada and becoming a Muslim). The concept is that if one dies in this state (as a mushrik, an idolator, one who engages in and does not repent shirk), there is no forgiveness. 2013, James R. White, What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Qur'an, Baker Books, →ISBN: