Etymology

cluck

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Today it means: The sound made by a hen, especially when brooding, or calling her chicks. Full definition →

Middle English clokken ← Old English cloccian ← Proto-West Germanic *klukkwōn
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cluck · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*klukkwōną“to make a sound, cluck”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*klukkwōn
  3. Old English · inherited fromcloccian“to cluck, make a noise”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromclokken
  5. English todaycluck

From Middle English clokken, clocken, from Old English cloccian (“to cluck, make a noise”), from Proto-West Germanic *klukkwōn, from Proto-Germanic *klukkwōną (“to make a sound, cluck”), of imitative origin. Cognate with Scots clok, clock (“to cluck”), Dutch klokken (“to cluck”), Low German klucken (“to cluck”), German glucken (“to cluck”), Danish klukke (“to cluck”), Swedish klucka (“to cluck”), Icelandic klökkva (“to sob, whine, cluck”).

Cluck · proper noun2

* As a German surname, Americanized from Kluck. * As a Polish and Czech surname, Americanized from Kluk.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishclokken all →

clock

Old Englishcloccian all →

clock

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.