Etymology

elk

E1L1K5

Today it means: Any of the subspecies of the moose (Alces alces, the largest member of the deer family, alternatively named Eurasian elk to avoid confusion with the wapiti), that occurs only in Europe and Asia. Full definition →

Middle English elk ← Old English eolc ← Proto-West Germanic *elh
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elk · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*h₁élḱis
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*elhaz
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*elh
  4. Old English · inherited fromeolc
  5. Middle English · inherited fromelk
  6. English todayelk

From Middle English elk, from Old English eolc, eolh (“elk”), from Proto-West Germanic *elh, from Proto-Germanic *elhaz, *algiz (“elk”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁élḱis, *h₁ólḱis, variant of *h₁elh₁én, from *h₁el- (“deer”). See also Low German Elk, German Elch, Danish elg, Norwegian elg, Swedish älg; also Polish łoś, Russian лось (losʹ), Vedic Sanskrit ऋश्य (ṛ́śya, “antelope”); also German Elen, Latin alcēs (“elk”), Tocharian A yäl, Tocharian B ylem (“gazelle”), Lithuanian élnis (“stag”), Armenian եղնիկ (eġnik, “doe, hind”). Doublet of Elhaz.

Elk · proper noun2

  1. Dutch · derived fromvan Elk
  2. English todayElk

Perhaps a reduced form of Dutch van Elk.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Germanic*elhaz all →

Elhaz

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.