shroud [OE] Late Old English scrūd meant ‘garment, clothing’ and is from a Germanic source from a base meaning ‘cut’; shred [OE] is related. An early sense of to shroud in Middle English was ‘cover so as to protect’. Use for the sheet in which a corpse is laid out, dates from the late 16th century. The shrouds [LME] or ropes on a ship are probably the same word.