Etymology

bunk

B3U1N1K5

Today it means: One of a series of berths or beds placed in tiers. Full definition →

First used 1900-1927North Germanic ← Old Swedish bunke
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

bunk · noun, verb1

  1. Old Swedish · derived frombunke“boards used to protect the cargo of a ship”
  2. North Germanic · derived from
  3. English todaybunk

Sense of sleeping berth possibly from Scottish Scottish English bunker (“seat, bench”), the origin of which is uncertain but possibly Scandinavian (North Germanic); compare Old Swedish bunke (“boards used to protect the cargo of a ship”). Possibly related to bunch.

bunk · noun, adjective2

Shortened from bunkum, a variant of buncombe, from Buncombe County, North Carolina. See bunkum for more.

bunk · verb, noun3

19th century, of uncertain origin; perhaps from previous "to occupy a bunk" meaning, with connotations of a hurried departure, as if on a ship.

First known use, by meaning

  • 1900-1927 In early use often in the form the bunk.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.