Where does “aardvark” come from?
aardvark (English) comes from Afrikaans aardvark, 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 — flat surface.
aardvark (English): The nocturnal, insectivorous, burrowing, mammal...
Definitions
- The nocturnal, insectivorous, burrowing, mammal...
Ancestry of “aardvark”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Afrikaans | aardvark | Obsolete form of erdvark; aardvark |
| 2 | Afrikaans | vark | pig |
| 3 | Afrikaans | vlakvark | warthog |
| 4 | Afrikaans | vlak | flat, level, even; shallow; plane, surface |
| 5 | Dutch | vlak | flat, plane; A plain, a flat surface; A domain,... |
| 6 | Middle Dutch | vlac | — |
| 7 | Old Dutch | flak | — |
| 8 | Proto-West Germanic | *flak | — |
| 9 | Proto-Germanic | flakaz | flat |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | pl̥keh | flat surface |
Words derived from “aardvark”