Etymograph

English

auk

Auk comes from Icelandic álka ‘razorbill (Alca torda)’, from Proto-Germanic *alkǭ ‘a kind of sea bird, auk’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁el-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁el-‘a kind of bird’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*alkǭ‘a kind of sea bird, auk’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350alka
  4. Icelandicmodernálka‘razorbill (Alca torda)’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2018auk

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁el-‘a kind of bird’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*alkǭ‘a kind of sea bird, auk’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350alka
  4. Icelandicmodernálka‘razorbill (Alca torda)’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2018auk

Earliest quotation: 2018, Louise Tickle: “Further afield, these auks are also in dire straits:…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁el- ‘a kind of bird’

lamb, elk

Today it means

noun Any of several species of Arctic sea birds of the family Alcidae.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁el- / auk

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