English
spunk
Spunk comes from Middle English funke ‘spark’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *funkô.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*funkô‘spark’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*funkō‘spark’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150*funca‘spark’reconstructed
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500funke‘spark’
- Englishearliest quotation 1650spunk
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*funkô‘spark’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*funkō‘spark’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150*funca‘spark’reconstructed
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500funke‘spark’
- Englishearliest quotation 1650spunk
Earliest quotation: 1650, Thomas Browne, London: […] A[braham] Miller: “Spunk, or Touch-wood prepared, might perhaps make it Russet:…”
The story
Funk (‘spark, touchwood’) is from Middle English funke, fonke (‘spark’), from Old English *funca (‘spark’), from Proto-West Germanic *funkō, from Proto-Germanic *funkô (‘spark’), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peng- (‘to shine’), and is akin to Middle Low German funke, fanke (‘spark’), Middle Dutch vonke (‘spark’), Old High German funcho, funko (‘spark’), German Funke (‘spark’).
Every English word from Proto-Germanic *funkô
Today it means
noun A spark.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *funkô / spunk