Etymology

clack

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Today it means: An abrupt, sharp sound, especially one made by two hard objects colliding repetitively; a sound midway between a click and a clunk. Full definition →

Middle English clacken ← Old English *clacian ← Proto-Germanic *klakōną
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*klakōną“to clap, chirp”
  2. Old English · inherited from*clacian“to slap, clap, clack”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromclacken
  4. English todayclack

From Middle English clacken, clakken, claken, from Old English *clacian (“to slap, clap, clack”), from Proto-Germanic *klakōną (“to clap, chirp”). Cognate with Scots clake, claik (“to utter cries", also "to bedaub, sully with a sticky substance”), Dutch klakken (“to clack, crack”), Low German klakken (“to slap on, daub”), Norwegian klakke (“to clack, strike, knock”), Icelandic klaka (“to twitter, chatter, wrangle, dispute”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.