Etymograph

English

geek

Geek may come from English geck ‘a fool, dupe, simpleton’.

  1. English1500–presentgeck‘a fool, dupe, simpleton’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1965geek

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. English1500–presentgeck‘a fool, dupe, simpleton’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1965geek

Earliest quotation: 1965, Bob Dylan, Ballad of a Thin Man: “You hand in your ticket / And you go…”

The story

Started as carnival slang, likely from the British dialectal term geck (‘a fool, dupe, simpleton’) (1510s), apparently from Dutch gek or Low German geck, from an imitative verb found in North Sea Germanic and Scandinavian meaning "to croak, cackle," and also "to mock, cheat" (Dutch gekken, German gecken, Danish gække, Norwegian gakke, Swedish gäcka). The root still survives in the Dutch adjective noun gek (‘crazy" or "crazy person’).

Every English word from English geck

Another origin of geek

  1. Dutchc. 1500–presentkijk‘look’
  2. Dutch, derivedc. 1500–presentkeek
  3. Englishtodaygeek

Probably related to keek. Australian use from Cornish dialect.

Today it means

noun A carnival performer specializing in bizarre and unappetizing behavior.

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

Etymograph / English geck / geek

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