Where does “sulk” come from?
Sulk comes from Latin sulcus, meaning furrow or groove, from Proto-Indo-European selk-, to pull or draw, though the semantic connection to modern sulk remains unclear.
sulk (English): A state of sulking; to express ill humor or...
Definitions
- A state of sulking; to express ill humor or...
Ancestry of “sulk”, step by step
sulk traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English sulke
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | sulke | — |
| 2 | Old English | āsolcennys | idleness; slothfulness; sluggishness; laziness |
| 3 | Old English | āsolcen | sulky, languid |
| 4 | Old English | āseolcan | be slow; be weak or slothful; languish |
| 5 | Old English | ā- | a-; away, out |
| 6 | Old English | ar- | — |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | uʀ- | out, over; off, away |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | uz- | up, out |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | uss- | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | uds- | up, out |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | úd | out, outward |
via English sulky
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | sulky | silent and withdrawn after being upset; A low... |
| 2 | English | -y | Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives... |
| 3 | Middle English | -y | Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by... |
| 4 | Old English | -iġ | -y, -ic |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -g | Forms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -gaz | -y |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ḱos | -y, -ic |