English
sink
Sink comes from Middle English synken ‘to sink (to embed)’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sengʷ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sengʷ-‘to fall, sink’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sinkwaną‘to sink’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sinkwan‘to sink’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sincan‘to sink’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500synken‘to sink (to embed)’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1606sink
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sengʷ-‘to fall, sink’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sinkwaną‘to sink’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sinkwan‘to sink’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sincan‘to sink’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500synken‘to sink (to embed)’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1606sink
Earliest quotation: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “I think our country sinks beneath the yoke.”
The story
In the causative sense, it replaced Old English senċan (‘make sink’) from Proto-Germanic *sankwijaną.
Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *sengʷ-
Today it means
verb To descend or submerge (or to cause to do so) into a liquid or similar substance.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sengʷ- / sink