Etymograph

English

rook

Rook comes from Old English hrōc ‘rook (bird)’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kerk- ‘crow, raven’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kerk-‘crow, raven’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrōkaz‘rook, crow’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hrōkreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hrōc‘rook (bird)’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rok
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1768rook

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kerk-‘crow, raven’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hrōkaz‘rook, crow’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hrōkreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hrōc‘rook (bird)’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rok
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1768rook

Earliest quotation: 1768, Thomas Pennant, British Zoology: “But what distinguishes the rook from the crow is…”

Linked words

through Old English hrōc ‘rook (bird)’

rugby

through Middle English rok

rock

Another origin of rook

  1. Middle Persianc. 300 BCE–900 CElhw'‘rook, castle (chess)’
  2. Persianc. 900–presentرخrox
  3. Arabicc. 500–presentرُخّ
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400roc
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rook
  6. Englishtodaysame form

Another origin of rook

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rewg-‘to vomit, burp, roar’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*reukaną‘to smoke, to give off a vapour’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350rjúkaas *rauk‘to reek, emit smoke or vapor’reconstructed
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500roke‘mist’
  5. Englishtodayrook

Today it means

noun A European bird, Corvus frugilegus, of the crow family.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kerk- / rook

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