English
pecker
Pecker comes from Middle English piken ‘to pick at’, from Proto-West Germanic *pikkōn ‘to peck, strike’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *pikkōną.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*pikkōną‘to pick, peck, prick’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*pikkōn‘to peck, strike’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150*piccianreconstructed
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500piken‘to pick at’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500pekken
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500pekker
- Englishearliest quotation 1588pecker
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*pikkōną‘to pick, peck, prick’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*pikkōn‘to peck, strike’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150*piccianreconstructed
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500piken‘to pick at’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500pekken
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500pekker
- Englishearliest quotation 1588pecker
Earliest quotation: 1588, Thomas Hariot, A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia: “The women with short peckers or parers,... of a…”
Formed from peck ‘to pick at something in the manner of a bird’ + -er ‘forming agent nouns’
Proto-Germanic *pikkōną ‘to pick, peck, prick’
Proto-West Germanic *pikkōn ‘to peck, strike’
Old English *piccian
Middle English piken ‘to pick, use a pointed implement’
Middle English pecken
English peck
Linked words
through Old English *piccian
through Middle English piken ‘to pick at’
Today it means
noun Someone who or something that pecks, striking or piercing in the manner of a bird's beak or bill, particularly
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *pikkōną / pecker