Etymology

rackan

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Today it means: A chain or bar drilled with holes to accommodate pot-hooks from which cooking vessels can be suspended over a fire; a pot-hook. Full definition →

Middle English rakente ← Old English racente ← Proto-Germanic *rakintǭ
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*reǵ-“to bind”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*rakintǭ“fetter”
  3. Old English · inherited fromracente“chain, fetter”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromrakente
  5. English todayrackan

From Middle English rakente, from Old English racente (“chain, fetter”) and Old Norse rekendi (“chain”); both from Proto-Germanic *rakintǭ (“fetter”), from Proto-Indo-European *reǵ- (“to bind”). Cognate with Old High German rahhenza (“chain”). See also rackle.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*reǵ- all →

rinkraxreckretchrackie

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.