Etymology

eke

E1K5E1

Today it means: An addition. Full definition →

Middle English eke ← Old English ēaca ← Proto-Germanic *aukô
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eke · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*aukaną“to grow, increase”
  2. Old English · inherited fromīeċan“to increase, add, enlarge”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromeken“to increase, add, enlarge”
  4. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₂ewg-“to enlarge, increase”
  5. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*aukô
  6. Old English · inherited fromēaca
  7. Middle English · inherited fromeke“addition, increase, enlargement”
  8. English todayeke

The noun is derived from Middle English eke (“addition, increase, enlargement”), from Old English ēaca, from Proto-Germanic *aukô, from *aukaną (“to increase, add, enlarge”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg- (“to enlarge, increase”). The English noun is cognate with Old Frisian āka (“addition, increase; bonus”), Old Norse auki (“growth, increase, proliferation”). The verb is derived partly: * from the noun; and * from Middle English eken (“to increase, add, enlarge”) [and other forms], from three distinct verbs (1) Old English īeċan (“to increase, add, enlarge”) (transitive), (2) ēacan (“to be enlarged or increased”), and (3) ēacian, all from Proto-Germanic *aukaną (“to grow, increase”); see further above. The English verb is cognate with Latin augeō (“to augment, increase; to enlarge, expand, spread; to lengthen; to exaggerate; to enrich; to honour; (figuratively) to exalt, praise”), Old English ēac (“also”), Old Norse auka (“to augment, increase; to add; to exceed, surpass”), Icelandic auka (“to augment, increase to add; to exceed, surpass”), (Danish øge (“to enhance; to increase”), Norwegian Bokmål øke (“to increase”), Norwegian Nynorsk auka (“to increase”), Swedish öka (“to increase”)).

eke · adverb2

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₂ewg-“to enlarge, increase”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*auk“also, too; furthermore, in addition”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*auk
  4. Old English · inherited fromēac
  5. Middle English · inherited fromek
  6. English todayeke

From Middle English ek, eek, eke (“also”) [and other forms], from Old English ēac, ǣc, ēc (“also”), from Proto-West Germanic *auk, from Proto-Germanic *auk (“also, too; furthermore, in addition”), then either: * from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg- (“to enlarge, increase”); or * from Pre-Germanic *h₂ew (“away from, off; again”) + *g(ʰ)e (postpositional intensifying particle meaning ‘at any rate, indeed, in fact’) The English word is cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐌺 (auk, “also; for, because; but also”), Old Frisian âk, Old High German ouh (“also, as well, too”) (Middle High German ouch, modern German auch (“also, as well, too”)), Old Norse auk (“also; and”) (Danish og (“and”), Swedish och (“and”), ock (“(dated) also, as well as, too”)), Old Saxon ôk, Dutch ook (“also, too; moreover; either”), Saterland Frisian ook, uk (“also, too”), West Frisian ek (“also, too”).

Words from the same roots

Proto-Germanic*aukô all →

ean

Proto-Indo-European*h₂ewg- all →

eanoker

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.