Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “hinken” come from?

hinken (Middle English) comes from Old English hincian, from Proto-Germanic hinkaną, from Proto-Indo-European (s)keng- — to limp, hobble; to tilt, be askew.

Ancestry of “hinken”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishhincianto limp, hobble
2Proto-Germanichinkanąto limp, to hobble
3Proto-Indo-European(s)keng-to limp, hobble; to tilt, be askew
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)keng- →