bark

bark · verb, noun, interjection¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*bʰerg-“to make a noise, growl, bark”
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*berkan“to bark”
3. Old English · inherited frombeorcan“to bark”
4. Middle English · inherited frombarken
5. English todaybark

From Middle English barken, berken, borken, from Old English beorcan (“to bark”), from the Proto-West Germanic *berkan (“to bark”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerg- (“to make a noise, growl, bark”), from *bʰer- (“to drone, hum, buzz”). Cognate with Icelandic berkja (“to bark, bluster”), Icelandic barki (“throat, windpipe”), dialectal Lithuanian burgė́ti (“to growl, grumble, grouch, quarrel”), Serbo-Croatian brbljati (“to murmur”). For the noun, compare Old English beorc, bearce (“barking”).

bark · noun, verb²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*bʰerHǵós
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*barkuz
3. Old Norse · derived frombǫrkr“tree bark”
4. Old English · derived frombarc“bark”
5. Middle English · derived frombark
6. English todaybark

From Middle English bark, from Old English barc (“bark”), from Old Norse bǫrkr (“tree bark”), from Proto-Germanic *barkuz, probably related to *birkijǭ (“birch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerHǵós (compare Latin frāxinus (“ash”), Lithuanian béržas (“birch”)), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerHǵ- (“to gleam; white”) (compare English bright); akin to Danish bark, Icelandic börkur, Low German borke and Albanian berk (“bast”).

bark · noun³

1. Egyptian · derived frombꜣjrb-bA-A-y:r*Z1-P1“transport ship”
2. Demotic Egyptian · derived frombr
3. Coptic · derived fromⲃⲁⲁⲣⲉ“small boat”
4. Ancient Greek · derived fromβᾶρις“Egyptian boat”
5. Classical Latin · derived frombāris
6. Vulgar Latin · derived from*barica
7. Late Latin · derived frombarca
8. Middle French · derived frombarque
9. Middle English · inherited frombarke“boat”
10. English todaybark

From Middle English barke (“boat”), from Middle French barque, from Late Latin barca, a regular syncope of Vulgar Latin *barica, from Classical Latin bāris, from Ancient Greek βᾶρις (bâris, “Egyptian boat”), from Coptic ⲃⲁⲁⲣⲉ (baare, “small boat”), from Demotic Egyptian br, from Egyptian bꜣjrb-bA-A-y:r*Z1-P1 (“transport ship”). Doublet of barge, barque and baris.

Bark · proper noun⁴

1. Old English · derived frombeorh“hill”
2. English todayBark

* As an English surname, possibly a variant of Bargh, from places such as Barugh in Yorkshire, derived from Old English beorh (“hill”), or directly from the Old English noun. * As a north/Low German and Dutch surname, from the noun berke (“birch”); also names for someone who lived near a mountain, see Barg, Berk. * Also as a Dutch surname, possibly a pet from of the name Barnhard. * As a Polish surname, from the noun bark (“shoulder”).

Words from the same roots