block

block · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*bʰelǵ-“thick plank, beam, pile, prop”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*blukką“beam, log”
3. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*blokk
4. Old Dutch · derived from*blok“log”
5. Middle Dutch · derived fromblok“treetrunk”
6. Old French · derived frombloc“log, block”
7. Middle English · inherited fromblok“log, stump, solid piece”
8. English todayblock

From Middle English blok (“log, stump, solid piece”), from Old French bloc (“log, block”), from Middle Dutch blok (“treetrunk”), from Old Dutch *blok (“log”), from Proto-West Germanic *blokk, from Proto-Germanic *blukką (“beam, log”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵ- (“thick plank, beam, pile, prop”). Cognate with Old Frisian blok, Old Saxon blok, Old High German bloh, bloc (“block”), Old English bolca (“gangway of a ship, plank”), Old Norse bǫlkr (“divider, partition”). More at balk. See also bloc, bulk.

Block · proper noun²

1. Dutch · derived fromblok
2. German · derived fromBlock
3. English todayBlock

* A Germanic surname (German, Dutch and English), from German Block and Dutch blok respectively. As an English surname from the same cognate, block. * As a Jewish surname, Americanized from Bloch. Also see Vlach.

Words from the same roots