Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “buck” come from?

Buck derives from Middle Dutch bucken, Old English bucc, and Proto-Indo-European bʰōw- and bʰuǵ-, with a possible distant relation to Proto-North Caucasian bVχc̣V.

buck (English): A male deer, antelope, sheep, goat, rabbit, hare,...

Definitions

  1. A male deer, antelope, sheep, goat, rabbit, hare,...

Ancestry of “buck”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishbukkemale goat; male deer or roe
2Old Englishbūcbelly, stomach; belly, stomach, pitcher; belly,...
3Proto-West Germanic*būk—
4Proto-Germanicbūkazbelly, abdomen; body
5Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰōw-to inflate, swell; to swell, grow, thrive, be,...

Words derived from “buck”

  • bucks
  • buckle
  • buckling
  • bucking
  • buckboard
  • buckshot
  • buckthorn
  • unbuckle
  • bucktail
  • bushbuck
  • turnbuckle
  • buckhorn
  • reedbuck
  • blackbuck
  • sawbuck
  • postbuckling
  • megabucks
  • bucktoothed
  • humbucker
  • prongbuck
  • bucker
  • bucksaw
  • buckjumper
  • buckish
Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰōw- →