English
hockey
Hockey is of unknown origin, possibly from Middle French hoquet ‘shepherd’s crook’, from Old French hoc, from Middle Dutch hoec ‘hook’.
- Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500hoec‘hook’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400hoc
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600hoquet‘shepherd’s staff, crook’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2025hockey
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500hoec‘hook’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400hoc
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600hoquet‘shepherd’s staff, crook’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2025hockey
Earliest quotation: 2025, Homero De la Fuente: “Canada’s men’s hockey team defeated the USA 3-2 in…”
The story
Possibly related to hook due to the curvature of the stick, akin to hock (‘hook’) + -ey, or from Middle French hoquet (‘shepherd's staff, crook’), which resembles a hockey stick, via a diminutive form of Old French hoc from Middle Dutch hoec (‘hook’), a cognate of Old English hōc.
Every English word from Middle Dutch hoec
Today it means
noun Any of a family of sports in which hockey sticks are used to move a ball or puck into a goal.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle Dutch hoec / hockey