English
eke
Eke comes from Middle English eke ‘addition, increase’, from Old English ēaca ‘addition’, from Proto-Germanic *aukô ‘increase’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg- ‘to increase, enlarge’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ewg-‘to enlarge’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éwg-e-tireconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*aukaną‘to increase’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*aukô‘increase’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ēaca‘addition’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500eke‘addition’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ewg-‘to enlarge’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éwg-e-tireconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*aukaną‘to increase’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*aukô‘increase’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ēaca‘addition’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500eke‘addition’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590same form
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto V: “Is not enough, that thruſt from heauen dew /…”
The story
The noun is derived from Middle English eke (‘addition, increase, enlargement’), from Old English ēaca, from Proto-Germanic *aukô, from *aukaną (‘to increase, add, enlarge’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg- (‘to enlarge, increase’). The English noun is cognate with Old Frisian āka (‘addition, increase; bonus’), Old Norse auki (‘growth, increase, proliferation’). The English verb is cognate with Latin augeō (‘to augment, increase; to enlarge, expand, spread; to lengthen; to exaggerate; to enrich; to honour; (figuratively) to exalt, praise’), Old English ēac (‘also’), Old Norse auka (‘to augment, increase; to add; to exceed, surpass’), Icelandic auka (‘to augment, increase to add; to exceed, surpass’), (Danish øge (‘to enhance; to increase’), Norwegian Bokmål øke (‘to increase’), Norwegian Nynorsk auka (‘to increase’), Swedish öka (‘to increase’)).
Linked words
pairs
- eke and nickname both from Old English ēac ‘also’
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg- ‘to enlarge, increase’
august, author, auction, auxiliary, augment, auteur, 11 more
Today it means
noun An addition.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.