Etymology

chark

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Today it means: Charcoal; coke. Full definition →

Middle English charken ← Old English ċearcian ← Proto-West Germanic *krakōn
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chark · noun, verb1

A back-formation from charcoal (interpreted as chark coal).

chark · verb2

  1. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*krakōn“to crack, crackle; to shriek”
  2. Old English · inherited fromċearcian
  3. Middle English · inherited fromcharken
  4. English todaychark

Cognate with Scots chork, from Middle English charken, cherkin, from Old English ċearcian, variant of cracian (“to resound, make an abrasive sound, crack”), from Proto-West Germanic *krakōn (“to crack, crackle; to shriek”). Doublet of chirk, crack, and crake.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishcharken all →

Charker

Old Englishċearcian all →

chirk

Proto-West Germanic*krakōn all →

cricketkestrelcrickcreakcrakechirktocrack

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.