duck

English has two words spelled duck: the bird, named from the native verb to duck or dive, and a strong cotton cloth borrowed from Dutch.^[1][2][3][4]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dʌk/^[5]

duck¹ bird; to dip

Etymology

The bird is Middle English doke, duk, inherited from Old English dūce (“duck”), literally “a diver”, from an unrecorded Old English verb *dūcan, to duck or dive,^[1][2][3][6] from Proto-Germanic *dūkaną, cognate with Middle Dutch dūken (“to dip, dive”) and German tauchen (“to dive”).^[1][2][4] It replaced the older Old English name ened, from PIE *anət-.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The bird: 967, in the genitive dūcan;^[1][7] the verb, to plunge into, about 1300 in Etymonline and before 1325, in Cursor Mundi, in Barnhart.^[2][1] The form duck is from about 1420 but was not established before the 1500s.^[1]

Semantic evolution

The female of the bird, as opposed to the drake, is a duck from about 1386, and its meat from 1774.^[7] Duck as a term of endearment is from the 1580s.^[2] Ducks and drakes, skimming stones on water, is from the 1580s.^[2] The lame duck was mid-18th-century stock-exchange slang for a defaulter.^[6] In cricket a duck, a score of nothing, is short for duck's egg.^[8][9] The verb, to bob down suddenly, as in dodging, is by the 1520s,^[2] and to avoid a duty from later.^[8] Duck soup, something easy, is from 1899.^[2]

Timeline

• 967 – the bird.^[1][7]
• c. 1300 – to plunge into water.^[2]
• 1520s – to bob down quickly.^[2]
• 1580s – a term of endearment.^[2]
• 1899 – duck soup.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A water bird with a broad flat bill, short legs and webbed feet, or the female of this as distinct from the drake.
2. The meat of the duck.
3. (cricket) A score of zero.
4. (British informal) A term of endearment.

Verb

1. To lower the head or body quickly, as to avoid a blow.
2. To plunge or push under water briefly.
3. To avoid a duty or question; to dodge.

Word family

• duckling
• ducky
• duckweed
• lame duck

duck² cotton cloth

Etymology

The cloth is borrowed from Dutch doek (“linen cloth, canvas”), Middle Dutch doec,^[1][2][4] from Proto-Germanic *dōkaz, of unknown origin, cognate with German Tuch (“cloth”).^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A strong linen or cotton fabric used for sails and sailors' clothing: 1640 in Barnhart, the 1630s in Etymonline.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

In the plural, ducks are trousers made of this cloth.^[9][8]

Timeline

• 1640 – the fabric.^[1]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A heavy cotton or linen fabric like canvas.
2. ducks: trousers made of this.

Related words

• drake

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin