auk

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₁el-“a kind of bird”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*alkǭ
3. Old Norse · derived fromalka“auk”
4. Icelandic · derived fromálka
5. English todayauk

From Icelandic álka, from Old Norse alka (“auk”), from Proto-Germanic *alkǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁el- (“a kind of bird”). Cognate with Swedish alka (“auk”), Norwegian and Danish alke (“auk”), Swedish dialectal alla (“long-tailed duck”) (Clangula hyemalis, syn. Fuligula glacialis), Latin olor (“swan”), Ancient Greek ἐλέα (eléa, “marsh-bird”), Welsh alarch (“swan”).

Words from the same roots