Where does “aardvark” come from?
aardvark (Afrikaans) comes from Afrikaans vark, from Afrikaans vlakvark, from Afrikaans vlak, from Dutch vlak, from Middle Dutch vlac, from Old Dutch flak, from Proto-West Germanic *flak, from Proto-Germanic flakaz — flat surface.
aardvark (Afrikaans): Obsolete form of erdvark; aardvark
Definitions
- Obsolete form of erdvark; aardvark
Ancestry of “aardvark”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Afrikaans | vark | pig |
| 2 | Afrikaans | vlakvark | warthog |
| 3 | Afrikaans | vlak | flat, level, even; shallow; plane, surface |
| 4 | Dutch | vlak | flat, plane; A plain, a flat surface; A domain,... |
| 5 | Middle Dutch | vlac | — |
| 6 | Old Dutch | flak | — |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | *flak | — |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | flakaz | flat |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pl̥keh | flat surface |
Words derived from “aardvark”