Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “walk” come from?

walk (Middle English) comes from Old English wealcian, from Frankish walkōn, from Proto-Germanic walkōną, from Indo-European *wel-.

walk (Middle English): to watch

Definitions

  1. to watch

Ancestry of “walk”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishwealcianto roll up, curl, twist; to wrinkle
2Frankishwalkōnto roll; to full
3Proto-GermanicwalkōnąTo roll about; wallow; To full
4Indo-European*wel-—
Every word from Indo-European *wel- →