beck

beck · noun¹

1. Old Norse · derived frombekkr“a stream or brook”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*bakiz“stream”
3. Middle English · inherited frombek
4. English todaybeck

From Middle English bek, bekk, becc, from Old English bæc, bec, bæċe, beċe (“beck, brook”), from Proto-Germanic *bakiz (“stream”). Cognate with Old Norse bekkr (“a stream or brook”), Low German bek, beck, German Bach, Dutch beek, Swedish bäck, Doublet of batch. More at beach.

beck · noun, verb²

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*baukną“beacon”
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*baukn
3. Old English · inherited frombēcnan
4. Middle English · inherited frombekenen
5. Middle English · inherited frombekken
6. English todaybeck

From Middle English bekken, a shortened form of Middle English bekenen, from Old English bēcnan, bēacnian (“to signify; beckon”), from Proto-West Germanic *baukn, from Proto-Germanic *baukną (“beacon”). More at beacon.

beck · noun³

See back.

beck · noun⁴

1. Old French · derived frombec“beak”
2. Middle English · inherited frombec
3. English todaybeck

From Middle English bec, bek, from Old French bec (“beak”).

Beck · proper noun⁵

* As a German surname, from Beck (“stream, brook”), see also Old Norse bekkr. Also a spelling variant of Becker (“baker”). * As a Hebrew surname, shortened from בני (B'nei) קדושים (Kdoshim, “sons of the martyrs”).

Words from the same roots