Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Cork” come from?

Cork derives from Irish Corcaigh, which comes from Irish corcach, a term of unknown original meaning.

Ancestry of “Cork”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishcorkoak bark, cork
2Middle Dutchcurccork
3Spanishcorchocork
4LatincortexThe bark of a tree; the bark of a cork tree;...
5Proto-Indo-European*(s)kort-ek-s—

Words derived from “Cork”

  • Corkman
  • Corkwoman
  • Korko
Every word from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kort-ek-s →