English
smoke
Smoke comes from Middle English smoke, from Old English smoca ‘smoke’, from Proto-Germanic *smukô, from Proto-Indo-European *smug- ‘to smoke’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*smug-‘to smoke’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*smukô‘smoke’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150smoca
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500smoke
- Englishearliest quotation 1828smoke
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*smug-‘to smoke’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*smukô‘smoke’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150smoca
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500smoke
- Englishearliest quotation 1828smoke
Earliest quotation: 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology: “When, lo! along the tall Rocky hill-side, a smoke…”
The story
From Middle English smoke, from Old English smoca (‘smoke’), probably a derivative of the verb (see below).
Linked words
through Middle English smoke
Another origin of smoke
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mewg-‘to smoke’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*smaukaną‘to smoke’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*smukōną‘to smoke’reconstructedablaut derivative of *smaukaną
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*smokōn‘to smoke’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150smocian‘to smoke, to emit smoke’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500smoken‘to perfume’
- Englishtodaysmoke
Related also to Old English smēocan (‘to smoke, emit smoke; fumigate’), Bavarian schmuckelen (‘to smell bad, reek’).
Today it means
noun The visible vapor/vapour, gases, and fine particles given off by burning or smoldering material.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *smug- / smoke