Where does “heck” come from?
heck (Middle Low German) comes from Old Saxon heggi, from Proto-West Germanic haggju, from Proto-Germanic hagjō, from Proto-Indo-European kagʰyóm, from Proto-Indo-European -yós — Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems.
heck (Middle Low German): wooden fencing
Ancestry of “heck”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old Saxon | heggi | — |
| 2 | Proto-West Germanic | haggju | hedge |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | hagjō | hedge |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | kagʰyóm | enclosure, hedge |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |
Words derived from “heck”