Etymology

whelk

W4H4E1L1K5

Today it means: Certain edible sea snails, especially, any one of numerous species of large marine gastropods belonging to Buccinidae, much used as food in Europe. Full definition →

Middle English whelke ← Old English weoloc ← Proto-West Germanic *weluk
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whelk · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*welH-“to turn, revolve”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*weluk
  3. Old English · inherited fromweoloc
  4. Middle English · inherited fromwhelke
  5. English todaywhelk

From Middle English whelke, a variant of welk, from Old English weoloc, wiloc, wioloc, weluc, from Proto-West Germanic *weluk (compare Middle Dutch willoc, Dutch wulk), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, revolve”) (whence vulva and volute). Unetymological spelling with wh- from the 15th century.

whelk · noun2

  1. Old English · inherited fromhwelca“pustule, swelling”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromwhelke
  3. English todaywhelk

From Middle English whelke, from Old English hwelca (“pustule, swelling”).

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*welH- all →

wellwallinvolvewaltzwalewallow

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.