Etymology

choke

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Today it means: To be unable to breathe because of obstruction of the windpipe (for instance food or other objects that go down the wrong way, or fumes or particles in the air that cause the throat to constrict). Full definition →

Middle English choken ← Old English āċēocian
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choke · verb, noun1

  1. Old English · inherited fromċēoce
  2. Old English · inherited fromāċēocian“to choke”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromchoken
  4. English todaychoke

From Middle English choken (also cheken), from earlier acheken, from Old English āċēocian (“to choke”), probably derived from Old English ċēoce, ċēace (“jaw, cheek”), see cheek. Cognate with Icelandic kok (“throat”), koka (“to gulp”). See also achoke.

choke · noun2

Back-formation from artichoke.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.