Where does “quackless” come from?
quackless (English) comes from English quack, from English quacksalver, from Dutch quacksalver, from Middle Dutch quacsalven, from Middle Dutch salve, from Old Dutch salva, from Proto-West Germanic salbu, from Proto-Germanic salbō — fat, oil.
quackless (English): Of a duck, that does not quack
Definitions
- Of a duck, that does not quack
Ancestry of “quackless”, step by step
quackless traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English quack
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | quack | The sound made by a duck; To make a noise like a... |
| 2 | English | quacksalver | One falsely claiming to possess medical or other... |
| 3 | Dutch | quacksalver | a hawker of salve |
| 4 | Middle Dutch | quacsalven | — |
| 5 | Middle Dutch | salve | ointment, salve |
| 6 | Old Dutch | salva | salve, ointment |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | salbu | salve, ointment |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | salbō | salve, ointment |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | solp-éh₂ | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | selp- | fat, oil |