English
beak
Beak comes from Latin beccus ‘beak, bill’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbeccus‘beak, bill’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400bec
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1609beak
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbeccus‘beak, bill’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400bec
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1609beak
Earliest quotation: 1609, Richard Carew, The Survey of Cornwall: “At the townes end, Cuddenbeak, an ancient house of…”
The story
From Middle English bec, borrowed from Anglo-Norman bec, Old French bec, from Latin beccus, from Gaulish *bekkos, from Proto-Celtic *bekkos (‘beak, snout’), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bak-, *baḱ- (‘pointed stick, peg’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bak- ‘peg, club’
through Latin beccus ‘beak, bill’
through Middle English bec
Today it means
noun A rigid structure projecting from the front of a bird's face, used for pecking, grooming, foraging, carrying items, eating food, etc.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin beccus / beak