Meanings
plural yolks · alternative obsolete yelk
- countableuncountableThe grease in a sheep's fleece; lanolin.
Wool-growers appear to entertain different opinions in regard to the effect which yolk has on the value of the fleece. Some seem to suppose that the aggregate amount which they receive for their wool is increased from the greater weight which it possesses by being charged with this substance[…]
1846, The Cultivator, page 270
present singular third person yolks · participle present yolking · participle past yolked · past yolked · alternative obsolete yelk
- To produce yolk.
This is surprising in that these females were yolking up their clutch of eggs
1981, Barbara Rae Rose, Activity and Reproduction in Iguanid Lizards, page 12
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe yellow, spherical part of an egg that is surrounded by the white albumen, and serves as nutriment for the growing young.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe yellow spherical part of an egg that is surrounded by the albumen
nounnutritive material of an ovum stored for the nutrition of an embryo (especially the yellow mass of a bird or reptile egg)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishġeolu“yellow”
- Old Englishġeolca
- Middle Englishyolke
- Englishyolk
From Middle English yolke, yelke, ȝolke, ȝelke, from Old English ġeolca, ġeoloca, ġioleca (“the yellow part, yolk”), derived from Old English ġeolu (“yellow”) + -ca (diminutive suffix).
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans eiergeel, dooier
- eiergeelyellow of egg
- dooieryellow of egg
Ancient Greek λέκιθος
- λέκιθος (lékithos)yellow of egg
Arabic صَفَار اَلْبَيْض, أَصْفَر اَلْبَيْض
- صَفَار اَلْبَيْض (ṣafār al-bayḍ)yellow of egg
- أَصْفَر اَلْبَيْض (ʔaṣfar al-bayḍ)yellow of egg
- مُحّ (muḥḥ)yellow of egg
Basque gorringo
- gorringoyellow of egg
Bengali কুসুম
- কুসুম (kuśum)yellow of egg
Bulgarian жълтък
- жълтък (žăltăk)yellow of egg
Catalan rovell
- rovellyellow of egg
Chinese Cantonese 蛋黃 /蛋黄, 黃 /黄
- 蛋黃 /蛋黄yellow of egg
- 黃 /黄yellow of egg
Chinese Mandarin 蛋黃 /蛋黄
- 蛋黃 /蛋黄 (dànhuáng)yellow of egg
Czech žloutek
- žloutekyellow of egg
Danish æggeblomme
- æggeblommeyellow of egg
Dutch dooier, eidooier
- dooieryellow of egg
- eidooieryellow of egg
- eigeelyellow of egg
- eierdooieryellow of egg
Esperanto ovoflavo
- ovoflavoyellow of egg
Finnish munankeltuainen, keltuainen
- munankeltuainenyellow of egg
- keltuainenyellow of egg
- ruskuainenyellow of egg
French jaune d'œuf, jaune
- jaune d'œufyellow of egg
- jauneyellow of egg
- moyeuyellow of egg
German Eigelb, Dotter
- Eigelbyellow of egg
- Dotteryellow of egg
- Eidotteryellow of egg
Greek κρόκος, κροκάδι
- κρόκος (krókos)yellow of egg
- κροκάδι (krokádi)yellow of egg
Hebrew חֶלְמוֹן
- חֶלְמוֹן (khelmón)yellow of egg
Hindi ज़रदी, ज़र्दी
- ज़रदी (zardī)yellow of egg
- ज़र्दी (zardī)yellow of egg
Hungarian tojássárgája, sárgája
- tojássárgájayellow of egg
- sárgájayellow of egg
- szikyellow of egg
Icelandic eggjarauða, eggjablómi
- eggjarauðayellow of egg
- eggjablómiyellow of egg
Indonesian kuning telur
- kuning teluryellow of egg
Irish buíocán
- buíocányellow of egg
Italian tuorlo, rosso d'uovo
- tuorloyellow of egg
- rosso d'uovoyellow of egg
Japanese 卵黄, 黄身
- 卵黄 (ran'ō)yellow of egg
- 黄身 (kimi)yellow of egg
- 蛋黄yellow of egg
Korean 노른자, 난황
- 노른자 (noreunja)yellow of egg
- 난황 (nanhwang)yellow of egg
Latin vitellus, vitellum
- vitellusyellow of egg
- vitellumyellow of egg
Latvian dzeltenums
- dzeltenumsyellow of egg
Lithuanian trynys
- trynysyellow of egg
Malay kuning telur, yolka
- kuning teluryellow of egg
- yolkayellow of egg
Norwegian Bokmål eggeplomme, plomme
- eggeplommeyellow of egg
- plommeyellow of egg
Persian زرده
- زرده (zarde)yellow of egg
Polish żółtko
- żółtkoyellow of egg
Portuguese gema
- gemayellow of egg
Romanian gălbenuș
- gălbenușyellow of egg
Russian желто́к
- желто́к (želtók)yellow of egg
Scottish Gaelic buidheagan
- buidheaganyellow of egg
Slovak žĺtok
- žĺtokyellow of egg
Spanish yema
- yemayellow of egg
Swahili kiini cha yai
- kiini cha yaiyellow of egg
Swedish äggula, gula
- äggulayellow of egg
- gulayellow of egg
Tagalog pula ng itlog, apyak
- pula ng itlogyellow of egg
- apyakyellow of egg
- burokyellow of egg
Tamil கரு, மஞ்சள் கரு
- கரு (karu)yellow of egg
- மஞ்சள் கரு (mañcaḷ karu)yellow of egg
Thai ไข่แดง
- ไข่แดง (kài-dɛɛng)yellow of egg
Turkish yumurta sarısı
- yumurta sarısıyellow of egg
Ukrainian жовто́к
- жовто́к (žovtók)yellow of egg
Urdu زَرْدِی
- زَرْدِی (zardī)yellow of egg
Vietnamese lòng đỏ
- lòng đỏyellow of egg
Welsh melynwy
- melynwyyellow of egg
Yiddish געלכל
- געלכל (gelkhl)yellow of egg
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with yolk
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
yolk. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yolk
“yolk.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yolk. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “yolk,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yolk.
Source: yolk on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.