Where does “creak” come from?
Creak comes from Middle English creken, from Old English cearcian, from Proto-West Germanic krakōn, from Proto-Germanic krakōną, from Proto-Indo-European gerh₂-, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ger-.
creak (English): The sound produced by anything that creaks; a...
Definitions
- The sound produced by anything that creaks; a...
Ancestry of “creak”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | creken | to creak |
| 2 | Old English | ċearcian | — |
| 3 | Old Dutch | krakōn | to crack, creak, emit a cry |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | gerg- | to shout; tracery, basket, twist; wicker, bend |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | ger- | to turn, bend, twist, wind; to tie, bind... |
Words derived from “creak”