lurk

The story

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*lūrukōną“to be lying in wait, lurk”
2. Old Norse · derived from*lúrka
3. Middle English · inherited fromlurken
4. English todaylurk

From Middle English lurken, from Old Norse *lúrka, possibly from Proto-Germanic *lūrukōną (“to be lying in wait, lurk”), equivalent to lour + -k (frequentative suffix). Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk lurka (“to sneak away, go slowly”), dialectal Swedish lurka (“to dawdle, be slow in one's work”), Saterland Frisian lüürkje (“to look secretly, spy”), West Frisian luorkje (“to lurk”), Middle Low German lûrken (“to deceitfully stalk”).

Words from the same roots