Etymology

cackle

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Today it means: The cry of a hen or goose, especially when laying an egg. Full definition →

Middle English caclen ← Old English *caclian ← Proto-West Germanic *kakulōn
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The story

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*kakulōn
  2. Old English · inherited from*caclian
  3. Middle English · inherited fromcaclen
  4. English todaycackle

From Middle English caclen, cakelen, perhaps from Old English *caclian, *cacolian, from Proto-West Germanic *kakulōn, *kakilōn (“to cackle, gaggle, yelp, snarl”), perhaps of imitative origin. By surface analysis, cack + -le. Compare Dutch kakelen (“to cackle”), German Low German kakeln (“to cackle”), German kakeln (“to blather”), Danish kagle (“to cackle”), Swedish kackla (“to cackle”). Compare also Old English cahhetan, ċeahhettan (“to laugh loudly; cackle”), German gackern (“to cackle”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.