Where does “hawk” come from?
Hawk comes from Middle English hauk, Old English hafoc, Frankish happja, and Proto-Germanic habukaz, ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European root keh₂p- meaning to seize or grasp.
hawk (English): A diurnal predatory bird of the family...
Definitions
- A diurnal predatory bird of the family...
Ancestry of “hawk”, step by step
hawk traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English hawker
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | hawker | A peddler, huckster, who travels about to sell... |
| 2 | Middle Low German | hȫker | peddler |
| 3 | Old High German | huchan | — |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | *hūkan- | — |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | *hūkkan- | — |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | *huk(k)ōn- | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | *kuk-néh₂ | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱewk- | flare up, glow; white; to glow, burn, lighten |