Etymograph

English

elk

Elk comes from Middle English elk ‘elk, moose (Alces alces)’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁el- ‘deer’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁el-‘deer’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁élḱisreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*elhazreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*elhreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150eolc
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500elk‘elk, moose (Alces alces)’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1813same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁el-‘deer’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁élḱisreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*elhazreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*elhreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150eolc
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500elk‘elk, moose (Alces alces)’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1813same form

Earliest quotation: 1813, James Forbes, Oriental Memoirs: “In a narrow defile […] a male elk, (cervus…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁el- ‘deer’

lamb, auk

Today it means

noun Any of the subspecies of the moose (Alces alces, the largest member of the deer family, alternatively named Eurasian elk to avoid confusion with the wapiti), that occurs only in Europe and Asia.

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

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

Shirt and support for this word