The Spanish word 'escote' has two distinct meanings that come from different Frankish roots. The first meaning, 'neckline', traces back to the Frankish word '*kotta' meaning 'thick woolen cloth'. This evolved into Old French 'cote' meaning 'coat' or 'garment'. From there, Spanish developed the verb 'escotar' meaning 'to cut cloth to fit', which gave rise to 'escote' in the sense of a neckline or décolletage.

The second meaning of 'escote' as 'share of expense' comes from a different Frankish root '*skot' meaning 'monetary contribution'. This became 'escot' in Old French, maintaining the meaning of 'payment' or 'share of expense', and was then borrowed into Spanish as 'escote' with the same meaning.

A common related Spanish word is the verb 'escotar', which means 'to cut a neckline' or 'to make a low-cut garment'. This verb directly gave rise to the noun 'escote' meaning 'neckline'. Another related term is 'escotado/a' meaning 'low-cut' when referring to clothing.

While not directly from the same Frankish root as 'escote', the English word 'scot' as in the phrase 'scot-free' (meaning to get away without paying) is related to the 'share of expense' meaning. It comes from the same Germanic root that gave us the Frankish '*skot'. The English word 'coat' is related to the 'neckline' meaning of 'escote', as both ultimately trace back to the Frankish word for thick cloth (*kotta).