English
tusky
Tusky comes from Middle English tusk ‘a tusk’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *tunþskaz ‘tooth’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tunþskaz‘tooth’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150tūx
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tusk‘a tusk’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500tusky
- Englishearliest quotation 1697same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tunþskaz‘tooth’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150tūx
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tusk‘a tusk’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500tusky
- Englishearliest quotation 1697same form
Earliest quotation: 1697, Virgil, The First Book of the Æneis: “Ho! Strangers! have you lately ſeen, ſhe ſaid, /…”
Formed from tusk + -y
Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- ‘to bite’
…
Proto-Germanic *tunþskaz ‘canine tooth’
Proto-West Germanic *tų̄sk
Old English tūsc ‘canine tooth, tusk, molar’
Middle English tusk
English tusk
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *tunþskaz ‘tooth’
Today it means
adj Having tusks, especially prominent tusks.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *tunþskaz / tusky