Where does “cheek” come from?

Cheek comes from Middle English cheke, Old English ċēce, Proto-Germanic kakǭ, and Proto-Indo-European gog, with ultimate origins unclear.

cheek (English): The soft skin on each side of the face, below the...

Definitions

  1. The soft skin on each side of the face, below the...

Ancestry of “cheek”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishcheeke
2Old Englishċēce
3Proto-West Germanickākājaw, cheek
4Proto-Germanickēkǭ
5Proto-Indo-Europeanǵyewh₁-to chew

Words derived from “cheek

Every word from Proto-Indo-European ǵyewh₁-