Etymograph

English

junk

Junk comes from Middle English jonk ‘a rush’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *joinikos.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*joinikosreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiuncus‘rush, reed’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400jonc
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form‘rush’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500jonkas junk‘a rush’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1848junk

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*joinikosreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiuncus‘rush, reed’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400jonc
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form‘rush’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500jonkas junk‘a rush’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1848junk

Earliest quotation: 1848, James Russell Lowell, (please specify the page): “Dear Uncle Sam pervides fer his, An' gives a…”

The story

From earlier meaning "old refuse from boats and ships", from Middle English junk, jounke, jonk, joynk (“an old cable or rope”, nautical term), sometimes cut into bits and used as caulking; of uncertain origin; perhaps related to join, joint, juncture.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain. Often compared to Middle English junk, jonk, jonke, junck (‘a rush; basket made of rushes’), from Old French jonc, from Latin iuncus (‘rush, reed’); however, the Oxford English Dictionary finds "no evidence of connexion".

Linked words

through Latin iuncus ‘rush, reed’

geneva, gin, juniper, 4 more

Another origin of junk

  1. Portuguesec. 1500–presentjunco
  2. Englishtodayjunk

Today it means

noun Miscellaneous items of little value, especially discarded or unwanted items.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *joinikos / junk

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