Where does “clockwork” come from?
Clockwork comes from English clock plus the suffix -work, with clock deriving from Old English cloccian and Proto-Germanic klukkwōną, originally meaning to make a sound or strike.
clockwork (English): A mechanism powered by a coiled spring and...
Definitions
- A mechanism powered by a coiled spring and...
Ancestry of “clockwork”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | clock | An instrument used to measure or keep track of... |
| 2 | Middle English | clokke | clock, timekeeping device |
| 3 | Middle Dutch | clocke | bell; something bell-shaped |
| 4 | Old Dutch | *clocca | bell |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | *klokkā | bell |
| 6 | Medieval Latin | clocca | bell; travelers' cape, literally “a bell”, so... |
| 7 | Old Irish | cloc | bell; clock |
| 8 | Proto-Celtic | klokkos | bell |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | klēg- | — |