Where does “quack” come from?
Quack comes from Middle Dutch kwaksalver, which is derived from Middle Dutch quacken.
quack (English): The sound made by a duck; To make a noise like a...
Definitions
- The sound made by a duck; To make a noise like a...
Ancestry of “quack”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | quacksalver | One falsely claiming to possess medical or other... |
| 2 | Dutch | quacksalver | a hawker of salve |
| 3 | Middle Dutch | quacsalven | — |
| 4 | Middle Dutch | salve | ointment, salve |
| 5 | Old Dutch | salva | — |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | salbu | salve, ointment |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | salbō | salve, ointment |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | solp-éh₂ | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | selp- | fat, oil |
Words derived from “quack”