bock

Etymology

It is borrowed from French bock,^[2][3][4] from German Bock, short for Bockbier,^[2][3][5] which Merriam-Webster takes directly from German.^[6][5] This is a shortening and alteration of Eimbockbier, now Einbecker Bier, beer from Einbeck, a town in Lower Saxony.^[2][3][6][7] Merriam-Webster Unabridged traces it through Bavarian Oambock and Ambock, earlier Ainpöckisch Bier,^[5] and Etymonline through a Bavarian pronunciation of the name.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A strong dark German beer: 1856, in the Illinois State Register, which explains the name as "goat", from the beer's strength making its drinkers prance about like goats.^[2][9] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates bock beer to 1835.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that the name was popularly associated with the German word for a he-goat,^[8] as the 1856 American explanation shows.^[9] The beer was brewed in winter and drunk in spring;^[8][9] the American Heritage Dictionary describes it as the first beer drawn from the vats in spring,^[7] and Merriam-Webster as usually sold in early spring.^[6] In French bock is a glass of beer,^[10] and the English word has also meant a glass of this or any other beer.^[2][3] The Dictionary of American Regional English finds bock beer chiefly in the North of the United States.^[9]

Timeline

• 1856 – a strong dark German beer; also a glass of beer.^[2][9] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates bock beer to 1835.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A strong, dark, rich beer of German origin, usually brewed in winter and sold in early spring; also called bock beer.^[6][7][5][2]
2. A glass of this or of any other beer.^[2][3]

Usage notes

Merriam-Webster Unabridged and Webster's Third also record a bock for a sheepskin leather used in bookbinding in place of morocco, from a Hindi word for a he-goat.^[5][11] In American slang Bock was a derogatory name for a Bohemian or Czech, probably from the German word for a he-goat.^[9][12]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e f Cassidy, Frederic G. & Joan Houston Hall (eds.) (1985–2002), Dictionary of American Regional English, vols I–IV, Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
12. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com