Английский Этимологический словарь - show (v.)

- O.E. sceawian "look at, see," from P.Gmc. *skauwojanan, from root *skau- "behold, look at." Causal meaning "let be seen, put in sight" evolved c.1200 (Ger. schauen still means "look at"). The noun meaning "display, spectacle" is first recorded 1561; that of "ostentatious display" is from 1713. Show-down is 1904, from poker players' slang for the act of laying down the hands face-up. Showroom is from 1616. Sideshow (1855) is apparently a coinage of P.T. Barnum's. Showy is from 1712; show off (v.) is from 1793; showboat (v.) in the sense of "show off" is from 1951. Show up "arrive" first recorded 1888; showcase (n.) in theatrical sense is from 1937; show-and-tell as an elementary school teaching tool is late 1940s.