English
Wojak
Wojak comes from Polish wojak ‘soldier’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to chase’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-‘to chase’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wóyh₁osreconstructed
- Proto-Balto-Slavicc. 2000–500 BCE*wájas‘soldier’reconstructed
- Proto-Slavicc. 400–900 CE*vojь‘soldier’reconstructed
- Proto-Slavic, derivedc. 400–900 CE*vojakъ‘soldier, warrior’reconstructed
- Polishmodernwojak‘soldier’
- Englishearliest quotation 2020Wojak
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-‘to chase’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wóyh₁osreconstructed
- Proto-Balto-Slavicc. 2000–500 BCE*wájas‘soldier’reconstructed
- Proto-Slavicc. 400–900 CE*vojь‘soldier’reconstructed
- Proto-Slavic, derivedc. 400–900 CE*vojakъ‘soldier, warrior’reconstructed
- Polishmodernwojak‘soldier’
- Englishearliest quotation 2020Wojak
Earliest quotation: 2020, Soham Gadre, Inside the Male-Dominated Meme Hijacked by Lib-Bashing Trump: “From the original manifestation of a wistful look to…”
The story
The original image was posted on vichan, a Polish imageboard, in 2009, and was later reposted to the German imageboard krautchan in 2010 by a Polish user called "wojak"; the username is from Polish wojak (‘soldier; fighter’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to chase’
previous, obvious, violent, virtual, violation, inevitable, virtue, voyage, convey, violate, vengeance, trivial, envoy, trivia, vis, deviation, avenge, virtuous, deviant, vindication, virtuoso, venison, wer, viaduct, ochre, vim, virile, virility, violator, inviolable, virago, trivium, obviate, 54 more
Today it means
noun A melancholic character representing the powerless everyday man; or, any derived art or character in the crude line-art Wojak style.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- / Wojak