gowk

gowk · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*gʰegʰuǵʰ-“cuckoo”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*gaukaz“cuckoo”
3. Old Norse · derived fromgaukr“cuckoo”
4. Middle English · inherited fromgoke
5. English todaygowk

From Middle English goke, gowke, from Old Norse gaukr (“cuckoo”), from Proto-Germanic *gaukaz (“cuckoo”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰegʰuǵʰ- (“cuckoo”).

gowk · noun²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*gʷel-“to devour, swallow, gulp; throat, gullet”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*kulkaz, *kulukaz“gullet”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*kolk
4. Old English · inherited from*colc“the gullet, esophagus; pit of the stomach; trench, pit, gully”
5. Middle English · inherited fromcoke, colk“the core or heart of an apple or onion, pith”
6. English todaygowk

Origin uncertain. Likely from Middle English coke, colk (“the core or heart of an apple or onion, pith”), from Old English *colc (“the gullet, esophagus; pit of the stomach; trench, pit, gully”), from Proto-West Germanic *kolk, from Proto-Germanic *kulkaz, *kulukaz (“gullet”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷel- (“to devour, swallow, gulp; throat, gullet”). Possibly a doublet of coke.

gowk · verb³

Compare Norwegian Nynorsk gulka (“to burp, belch”). Compare also Scots cowk (“to strain, retch”), Dutch kolken (“to belch”), German kolken (“to gulp”), dialectal German kölken, kolksen (“to vomit”), Danish kulke (“to gulp”).

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• until early 20th c. The central part of any thing; pith; core.