holk

holk · noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ḱel-“to cover, hide”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*hulukaz“a hollow”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*holuk
4. Old English · inherited fromholc
5. Middle English · inherited fromholk
6. English todayholk

From Middle English holk, from Old English holc, holoc (“hole, cavity”), from Proto-West Germanic *holuk, from Proto-Germanic *hulukaz (“a hollow”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover, hide”). Equivalent to hole + -ock (diminutive ending). Cognate with Low German holke, hölke (“small hole”), German Holk (“a type of flat-bottomed barge”), Swedish holk (“nest, birdhouse”), dialectal Norwegian holk, hylke (“wooden barrel, cask”), Icelandic hólkur (“hollow cylinder or tube”). Related to hulk.

holk · verb²

1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*holukōn
2. Old English · inherited from*holcian
3. Middle English · inherited fromholken
4. English todayholk

From Middle English holken, from Old English *holcian (attested in āholcian, āhlocian (“to dig out”), from Proto-West Germanic *holukōn, derived from the noun above. Cognate with Middle Low German holken, hȫlken (“to hollow out”), German Low German uthöhlken (“to hollow out”).

Words from the same roots