Where does “neck” come from?
Neck comes from Middle English nekke, Old English hnecca, Proto-Germanic hnakkô, and Proto-Indo-European knog-, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ken-.
neck (English): The part of the body connecting the head and the...
Definitions
- The part of the body connecting the head and the...
Ancestry of “neck”, step by step
neck traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English nekke
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | nekke | neck |
| 2 | Old English | hnecca | back of the neck; back of the head; neck |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | *hnakkō | nape |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | hnakkô | the back of the neck; nape |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | knog- | back of the head, nape, neck |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ken- | to arise, begin |
via Danish nøkke
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danish | nøkke | a water-demon, the nixie, the nick; mostly appearing as a grey horse-like creature with inverted hoofs and forward fetlocks that emerges from lakes |
| 2 | Swedish | näck | A Näcken, a nix (noun contra proper noun); a male water-spirit in human form, mainly residing in rivers and lakes, who lures people to drown by his wonderful violin playing |
| 3 | Old Norse | nykr | a water-demon, the nixie, the nick; mostly appearing as a grey horse-like creature with inverted hoofs and forward fetlocks that emerges from lakes |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | nikwiz- | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | neygʷ- | to wash |