Etymograph

English

lank

Lank comes from Old English hlanc ‘lanky or lean’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *hlankaz ‘lank, thin’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hlankaz‘lank, thin’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hlankreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150hlanc‘lanky or lean’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lank
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hlankaz‘lank, thin’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hlankreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150hlanc‘lanky or lean’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lank
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602same form

Earliest quotation: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “Run barefoot up and down, threat’ning the flames With…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kleng- ‘to bend, turn, wind, twist’

links, flinch, 3 more

Today it means

adj Slender or thin; not well filled out; not plump; shrunken; lean.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *hlankaz / lank

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