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
| 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 | — |
| 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 |
Words derived from “neck”