Etymology

smack

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Today it means: A distinct flavor, especially if slight. Full definition →

Middle English smac, smak, smacke ← Old English smæc, smæċċ ← Proto-West Germanic *smakku
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smack · noun, verb1

  1. Middle English · inherited fromsmaken
  2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*smegʰ-, *smeg-“to taste”
  3. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*smakkuz“a taste”
  4. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*smakku
  5. Old English · inherited fromsmæc, smæċċ“taste, smatch”
  6. Middle English · inherited fromsmac, smak, smacke
  7. English todaysmack

The noun is from Middle English smac, smak, smacke, from Old English smæc, smæċċ (“taste, smatch”), from Proto-West Germanic *smakku, from Proto-Germanic *smakkuz (“a taste”), from Proto-Indo-European *smegʰ-, *smeg- (“to taste”). The verb is from Middle English smaken. Doublet of smatch (obsolete, “taste”; q.v.), from Old English smæċċan (“to taste, smack”). Cognate with Scots smak (“scent, smell, taste, flavour”), Saterland Frisian Smoak (“taste”), West Frisian smaak (“taste”), Dutch smaak (“taste”), German Schmack, Geschmack (“taste”), Danish smag (“taste”), Swedish and Norwegian smak (“taste”), Norwegian smekke.

smack · noun2

  1. Dutch · derived fromsmak
  2. Middle Low German · derived fromsmack
  3. English todaysmack

From Middle Low German smack (Low German Schmacke, Schmaake (“small ship”)) or Dutch smak, perhaps ultimately related to smakken, imitative of the sails' noise.

smack · noun, verb, adverb3

  1. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*smak(k)ōn
  2. Old Dutch · derived from*smakkon
  3. Middle Dutch · derived fromsmacken
  4. Middle English · inherited from*smakken
  5. English todaysmack

From Middle English *smakken, from Middle Dutch smacken (modern Dutch smakken (“to smack, pop, hurl down, crash”)), from Old Dutch *smakkon, from Proto-West Germanic *smak(k)ōn, ultimately of imitative origin. Cognate West Frisian smakke, Middle Low German smacken (“to hit, hurl, fling”), Plautdietsch schmaksen (“to smack the lips”), German schmatzen (“eat noisily”), regional German schmacken, Schmackes (“vigour”) (compare Swedish smak (“slap”), the first part of Saterland Frisian smakmuulje (“to smack, slap”)).

Smack · proper noun4

  1. German · derived fromSchmack
  2. English todaySmack

Possibly an Americanized form of German Schmack.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishsmaken all →

smake

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.