hunker

hunker · verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kuk-néh₂
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*hūkan-“to squat”
3. Old Norse · derived fromhuka“to crouch”
4. English todayhunker

Originally Scottish. Origin uncertain, but probably of Germanic origin, perhaps *hunk- a nasalised variant of *huk- (compare Scots hoonk, hounk, variants of huk, hok (“to squat, crouch”); Scots hocker (“to crouch down, hunker”)), all of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse huka (“to crouch”), from Proto-Germanic *hūkan- (“to squat”), from *hūkkan-, back-formed from the iterative *huk(k)ōn-, from Proto-Indo-European *kuk-néh₂, from *kewk- (“to curve, bend”) (also the source of high). Probable cognates include Old Norse húka, Dutch huiken, and German hocken.

hunker · noun²

Unknown

Words from the same roots