croak

croak · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*greh₂-g-
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*krēk-
3. Old English · inherited fromcrācettan“to croak”
4. Middle English · inherited from*croken
5. English todaycroak

From Middle English *croken, crouken, (also represented by craken > crake), back-formation from Old English crācettan (“to croak”) (also in derivative crǣcetung (“croaking”)), from Proto-Germanic *krēk-, from Proto-Indo-European *greh₂-g-, from *greh₂-k-, of onomatopoeic origin. See also Swedish kråka, German krächzen, Sanskrit गर्जति (garjati, “to growl”); also compare Latin grāculus (“jackdaw”), Serbo-Croatian grákati. More at crack, crake and craic.

Croak · proper noun²

Variant of Croke.