Etymologically
Log in

drake

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 06:20. This address is a permanent link to this version.
← Previous version Changes in this edit History

Drake, a male duck, is a Germanic word of obscure origin; drake, a mayfly used as bait, goes back to Old English draca, dragon, from Latin dracō.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /dreɪk/[4]

drake1 male duck

Etymology

It is unrecorded in Old English, though it may have existed,[2] and corresponds to Low German drake and the second element of Old High German anutrehho (German Enterich), from West Germanic *drakō.[1][2][5] Hoad calls it of obscure origin.[3] The first part of the Old High German word is anut, duck, cognate with Latin anas and Ancient Greek νῆττα (nêtta), duck.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A male duck: about 1300, in Havelok the Dane.[1][2]

Semantic evolution

Collins defines it as the male of any duck.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – a male duck.[1][2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A male duck.

drake2 dragon, mayfly

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English draca (“dragon, sea monster”),[2][3][7] an early West Germanic borrowing of Latin dracō (see dragon).[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A dragon: before 1000.[8]

Semantic evolution

A fiery meteor was a drake from about 1205,[8] and a kind of small cannon from 1625.[8][3] Anglers have called a mayfly or an artificial fly like it a drake since the 17th century.[3][6]

Timeline

  • before 1000 – a dragon.[8]
  • 1625 – a small cannon.[8]
  • 17th century – a mayfly (angling).[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (angling) A mayfly, or an artificial fly made to look like one.
  2. (history) A small cannon.
  3. (obsolete) A dragon.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  5. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press