English
strike
Strike comes from Middle English stryken ‘to strike’, from Old English strīcan ‘to pass lightly over, stroke, smooth, rub’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *streyg-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*streyg-‘to stroke’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*strīkaną‘to stroke’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*strīkan‘to stroke’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150strīcan‘to pass lightly over’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stryken‘to strike’
- Englishearliest quotation 1567strike
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*streyg-‘to stroke’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*strīkaną‘to stroke’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*strīkan‘to stroke’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150strīcan‘to pass lightly over’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stryken‘to strike’
- Englishearliest quotation 1567strike
Earliest quotation: 1567, Thomas Harman, The vpright Coſe cateth to the Roge. [The Upright Man speake: “Now we haue well bousd, let vs strike some…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *streyg- ‘to stroke, rub, press’
streak, distress, stroke, restraint, stringent, stricture, 7 more
through Proto-Germanic *strīkaną ‘to stroke, to rub’
Today it means
verb To delete or cross out; to scratch or eliminate.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *streyg- / strike