Etymology

countersink

C3O1U1N1T1E1R1S1I1N1K5

Today it means: A conical recess, typically machined at the mouth of a hole to admit a screw (with a matching taper) so that the screw sits flush with a surface. Full definition →

English sink ← Middle English counter- ← Anglo-Norman countre-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
  3. Proto-Italic*kom
  4. Proto-Italic*kom-
  5. Proto-Italic*komteros
  6. Proto-Italic*komterād
  7. Latincontrā
  8. Old Frenchcontre-
  9. Anglo-Normancountre-
  10. Middle Englishcounter-
  11. Englishcounter-
  12. Englishsink
  13. English todaycountersink

From counter- + sink.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.