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coke

Etymology and origin of the English word coke

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Coke, the fuel, is an old northern English dialect word, while coke, cocaine, and Coke, the drink, are 20th-century shortenings.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kəʊk/ (UK); /koʊk/ (US)[4]

coke1 fuel

Confidence
Uncertain
First attested
1669

Etymology

It is probably the same as northern English dialect colk, a core,[1][2][3] Middle English colke, the core of an apple, the heart of an onion (about 1400), also charcoal (early 15th century),[1] a word of uncertain or unknown origin.[1][2] Etymonline compares Middle Dutch kolk, pothole, Old English -colc, pit, and Swedish dialect kälk, pith,[1][3] and suggests the notion of the core of the coal or what is left in the pit after a fire.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The solid residue of coal after its volatile parts are driven off: the 1660s in Etymonline, 1669 in the OED;[1][5] the 17th century in Hoad, formerly often in the plural.[2]

Semantic evolution

It became an important substance in metallurgy.[1] The OED records the old slang phrase go and eat coke.[5] The verb, to turn into coke, is from 1763.[3] A layer of carbon formed in engine cylinders by incomplete combustion is also called coke.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – colke, a core.[1]
  • 1669 – the fuel.[5]
  • 1763 – the verb.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A solid fuel of almost pure carbon, made by heating coal to drive off gases, used in making steel.

Verb

  1. To convert or be converted into coke.

coke2 cocaine

Confidence
Established
Formation
Clipping
First attested
1902

Etymology

It is a shortening and alteration of cocaine.[1][5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cocaine as a drug: by 1902, American English, in Etymonline;[1] about 1903 in MWU and 1908 in the OED.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The verb, to drug oneself with cocaine, coke up, and the adjective coked are from 1922.[5] Coke, the soft drink, a popular shortening of the trademark Coca-Cola, is from 1909, perhaps influenced by the earlier slang use for cocaine; another early nickname for the drink was dope.[1][6]

Timeline

  • 1902 – cocaine.[1]
  • 1909 – Coke, the drink.[1]
  • 1922 – coked up.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (slang) Cocaine.
  2. (Coke, trademark) Coca-Cola, or a glass or can of it.

Word family

  • coked

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  2. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Coke.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/coke. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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