Where does “yak” come from?

Yak comes from Tibetan གཡག, traced to Proto-Sino-Tibetan g-jak ~ g-jaŋ, designating the long-haired bovine animal native to the Himalayan plateau.

yak (English): An ox-like mammal native to the Himalayas,...

Definitions

  1. An ox-like mammal native to the Himalayas,...

Ancestry of “yak”, step by step

yak traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Korean 약

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Korean약drug; medicine; approximately; about; an ancient...
2Japanese役role, service, use; hand, scoring combination;...
3Middle Chinese役—

via Tibetan གཡག

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Tibetanགཡགyak
2Proto-Sino-Tibetang-jak ~ g-jaŋsheep, yak

Words derived from “yak”

Every word from Middle Chinese 役 →Every word from Japanese 役 →Every word from Korean 약 →