Etymology

tyke

T1Y4K5E1

Today it means: A mongrel dog. Full definition →

Middle English tike ← Old Norse tík ← Proto-Germanic *tīkō
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

tyke · noun1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*tīkō
  2. Old Norse · derived fromtík“female dog”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromtike
  4. English todaytyke

From Middle English tike, tyke, from Old Norse tík (“female dog”), from Proto-Germanic *tīkō. Compare Icelandic tík, Faroese tík, and Swedish tik, all meaning “bitch, female dog”.

Tyke · proper noun, noun2

Perhaps a derogatory nickname from Old Norse tík, 'bitch, female dog' (compare English tyke, Icelandic tík). Less likely to be from Old Norse þýzkr, 'of one's nation' or an Old English cognate (compare German deutsch, Swedish tysk).

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishtike all →

tick

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.