Etymology

beak

B3E1A1K5

Today it means: A rigid structure projecting from the front of a bird's face, used for pecking, grooming, foraging, carrying items, eating food, etc. Full definition →

Middle English bec ← Anglo-Norman bec ← Old French bec
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beak · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*bak-
  2. Proto-Celtic · derived from*bekkos“beak, snout”
  3. Gaulish · derived from*bekkos
  4. Latin · derived frombeccus
  5. Old French · derived frombec
  6. Anglo-Norman · derived frombec
  7. Middle English · inherited frombec
  8. English todaybeak

From Middle English bec, borrowed from Anglo-Norman bec, Old French bec, from Latin beccus, from Gaulish *bekkos, from Proto-Celtic *bekkos (“beak, snout”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bak-, *baḱ- (“pointed stick, peg”). Cognate with Breton beg (“beak”). Compare Saterland Frisian Bäk (“mouth; muzzle; beak”); Dutch bek (“beak; bill; neb”).

beak · noun2

Unknown; originally cant; first recorded in 17thC; probably related to obsolete cant beck "constable".

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishbec all →

beck

Old Frenchbec all →

beck

Latinbeccus all →

beccal

Proto-Indo-European*bak- all →

pegdebaclepail

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.