The origin of this word is unclear. One possibility is that it a form of the dialectal verb kumt “to bend, to stoop,” from Proto-Indo-European *kew-, *ku- “to swell, to bend” with an extra -m. The initial s would result from variation, as in the case of kumšķis ~ skumšķis (q.v.). The original meaning would thus have been “to bend, to stoop,” presumably from sadness, distress, depression (note the use of the prefix no- in the perfective noskumt; originally, no- denoted upward motion). Another hypothesis suggests a connection with the idea of “dark” or “darkening,” deriving skumt from Proto-Indo-European *kew- “to cover,” from which also Norwegian skume “dark,” Old Norse skúmi “twilight.”