coke

coke · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*g(ʷ)el-“to swallow, devour; gullet”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*kulukaz“a hollow, depression”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*kolk
4. Old English · inherited from*colc“hole, well”
5. Middle English · inherited fromcoke
6. English todaycoke

The origin is not certain. The OED says it is first attested in 1669. The MED has an earlier attestation in the related sense of "charcoal" in 1430: Middle English coke. This may be the same word as colk (“core”) (perhaps from the notion that coke is the core of the material left after it burning), from Old English *colc (“hole, well”), from Proto-West Germanic *kolk, from Proto-Germanic *kulukaz (“a hollow, depression”), from Proto-Indo-European *g(ʷ)el- (“to swallow, devour; gullet”). If so, cognate with Saterland Frisian Kolk (“maelstrom, depression, whirlpool”), West Frisian kolk (“maelstrom, whirlpool”), Dutch kolk (“maelstrom, vortex, whirlpool”), German Kolk (“pothole”).

coke · noun²

1. Quechuakuka
2. Aymarakuka
3. Spanishcoca
4. Englishcoca
5. Englishcocaineclip.
6. English todaycoke

Originated circa 1908 in American English as a clipping of cocaine.

coke · noun³

Since 1909, by genericization from the name of the American company Coca-Cola and the beverage it produced; the drink was named for two of its original ingredients, coca leaves and cola nut.

Coke · noun⁴

1. Quechuakuka
2. Aymarakuka
3. Spanishcoca
4. Englishcoca
5. Englishcola
6. EnglishCoca-Colaclip.
7. English todayCoke

Clipping of Coca-Cola. See coke (“cola”).

Words from the same roots