Where does “cluck” come from?
Cluck comes from Middle English clokken, Old English cloccian, and Proto-Germanic klukkwōną, likely imitating the sound of a hen or similar bird.
cluck (English): The sound made by a hen, especially when...
Definitions
- The sound made by a hen, especially when...
Ancestry of “cluck”, step by step
cluck traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via French glousser
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | glousser | to cluck; to gobble; to chortle, to giggle |
| 2 | German | gackern | to cackle to give the loud repetitive cry of a chicken; to laugh in a way reminiscent of this |
| 3 | Italian | chiocciare | to cluck |
| 4 | Spanish | cloquear | to cluck; to harpoon |
| 5 | Spanish | -ear | forms verbs from adjectives, nouns and some... |
| 6 | Latin | -izāre | — |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | -ίζειν | present active infinitive of -ίζω; -ize |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | -ίζω | Used to form verbs from nouns, adjectives and... |
| 9 | Proto-Hellenic | -íďďō | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -idyéti | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 13 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |