Etymograph

English

croak

Croak comes from Old English crācettan ‘to croak’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *greh₂-g-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*greh₂-g-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*krēk-reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150crācettan‘to croak’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*crokenreconstructed
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606croak

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*greh₂-g-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*krēk-reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150crācettan‘to croak’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*crokenreconstructed
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606croak

Earliest quotation: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “The raven himself is hoarse, / That croaks the…”

Linked words

through Middle English *croken

crooked, crouch

Today it means

noun A faint, harsh sound made in the throat.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *greh₂-g- / croak

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