Etymology

skunk

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Today it means: Any of various mammals of the subfamily Mephitinae, native to North and Central America, having a glossy black coat with white markings and two musk glands at the base of the tail for emitting a noxious smell as a defensive measure. Full definition →

Proto-Algonquian *šeka·kwa
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skunk · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Algonquian*šek-
  2. Proto-Algonquian*šeka·kwa
  3. English todayskunk

Borrowed from an unattested Southern New England Eastern Algonquian word cognate with Abenaki segôgw (literally “he who squirts (musk) / urinates”), from Proto-Algonquian *šeka·kwa, from *šek- (“to urinate”). Doublet of Chicago.

skunk · noun2

  1. Proto-Indo-European*(s)kenH-
  2. Proto-Germanic*skinþą
  3. Middle Englishskyn
  4. Englishskin
  5. Proto-Indo-European*kap-?
  6. Proto-Indo-European*kap-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*káput
  8. Proto-Germanic*haubudą
  9. Old Englishhēafod
  10. Middle Englishheed
  11. Englishhead
  12. Englishskinhead
  13. Englishpunk
  14. Englishskunkinflu.
  15. English todayskunk

Blend of skinhead + punk, influenced by the animal (Etymology 1).

skunk · noun3

From skunkweed (“certain highly aromatic marijuana”).

Words from the same roots

Proto-Algonquian*šeka·kwa all →

Chicago

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.