skipta

From Old Norse skipta, from Proto-Germanic *skiftijaną.

skipta (weak verb, third-person singular past indicative skipti, supine skipt)

1. to divide, to partition, to cleave

   Ég skal skipta appelsínunni í tvo hluta.

   I'll divide the orange into two parts.

2. to distribute, to divide amongst
3. to change

   Af hverju skiptir himininn litum?

   Why does the sky change colours?

4. to change, exchange, to swap

   Ég skipti gamla bílnum mínum fyrir nýjan.

   I exchanged my old car for a new one.

   Ég skipti krónunum mínum í dollara.

   I converted my krónur to dollars.

5. (impersonal) to matter

   Það skiptir engu máli.

   It doesn't matter.

   Það skiptir ekki máli.

   It doesn't matter.

   Það skiptir máli.

   It matters.

   Þeir riðu svo tugum skiptir.

   They rode by the dozens.

   Ég hef ekki séð hana svo mánuðum skiptir.

   I haven't seen her for months on end.

• In the sense skipta máli (“to matter”), when emphasis is added to the word skipta it is the equivalent of adding the auxiliary verb do with emphasis:

  Þetta 'skiptir' máli!

  This 'does' matter!

From Old Norse skipta, from Proto-Germanic *skiftijaną.

skipta

1. to distribute
2. to allot
3. to share
4. to shift, change

• Swedish: skifta