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Etymology and origin of the English word funk

Pronunciation

funk1 strong smell; music

Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1606
Borrowed from
Picard funquer
Ultimate origin
Latin fūmus

Etymology

The strong smell is probably borrowed from Picard funquer (“to give off smoke”), a northern French dialect verb also found in Walloon,[2][3][4][5][6] from Old French fungier or funkier (“to give off smoke, fill with smoke”),[5][4][6][3] from Vulgar Latin *fūmicō,[2][3] an alteration of Latin fūmigō (“to smoke”),[2][5][4] the source of fumigate, from fūmus (“smoke”).[6][7] Barnhart and Etymonline name a dialect noun funkière (“smoke”) as the immediate source.[5][4] The revised OED (2017) is more cautious: it calls the noun of uncertain origin, perhaps expressive, comparing the ending of stink, and mentions the French dialect verb only for the English verb.[8] Etymonline does not connect it with the obsolete funk, spark.[4] The music sense is a back-formation from funky, itself formed from this funk.[3][4][2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A strong, unpleasant smell, in early use of tobacco smoke: 1606, in E. Scott's account of the East Indians.[8] Etymonline dates it to the 1620s and Barnhart to 1633.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) defined funk as "a stink", and labelled it "a low word".[9] In the late 17th century it was also slang for tobacco (1677) and for thick smoke (1699),[8][10] and the verb meant to smoke a pipe (1684) or to annoy someone with smoke (1699);[8][5] to funk the cobbler (1785) was a prank of filling a room with foul tobacco smoke through the keyhole.[8][11] The adjective funky, smelling strongly, is dated 1680 by the OED and 1784 by Barnhart.[8][5] Barnhart and the OED trace its musical sense to ragtime songs, above all Buddy Bolden's "Funky Butt" of about 1900,[5][8] and “Word Origins” notes that funky had been a Black English word for "bad, worthless" before it reversed its meaning.[12] From funky in jazz, funk came to mean an earthy, bluesy quality in music (1954, in a title by H. Silver), and then a style of popular music (1970).[8][12] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date the musical noun to 1959.[4][3] The verb followed: to play funk music (1967), and funk up, to make a place smell (1967).[8]

Timeline

  • 1606 – a strong, unpleasant smell.[8]
  • 1677 – slang, tobacco.[8]
  • 1684 – verb, to smoke tobacco.[8]
  • 1699 – thick smoke; verb, to annoy with smoke.[8][5]
  • 1755 – Johnson's "a stink; a low word".[9]
  • 1785 – to funk the cobbler.[8]
  • 1954 – an earthy, bluesy quality in jazz.[8]
  • 1959 – funk music (Etymonline, Merriam-Webster).[4][3]
  • 1967 – verb, to play funk, and funk up, to make smelly.[8]
  • 1970 – a style of popular music.[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A strong, unpleasant smell; a stink.
  2. A style of popular music of African American origin, mixing rhythm and blues, jazz and soul, with a strong, repeated bass line.
  3. An earthy, bluesy quality in music; the quality of being funky.

Verb

  1. To play or dance to funk music, or to add funk to a piece.
  2. funk up: to make a place smell strongly.

Word family

  • funky
  • funkster
  • funk metal

funk2 fear, panic

Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1743
Borrowed from
Dutch fonck

Etymology

The fear is perhaps borrowed from Dutch fonck (“perturbation, agitation, distress”), an obsolete Flemish word (now fonk),[3][2][5][13][8] recorded from 1588 in the phrase in de fonck (“in turmoil, in trouble”); its own origin is unknown.[8][14][5] Barnhart and Etymonline compare Old French funicle (“wild, mad”).[5][4] Etymonline thinks it probably comes from a Scottish and northern English verb funk, to become afraid, which the OED also considers, though the verb is recorded a little later;[4][8] Hoad, the Shorter Oxford, “Word Origins” and the Oxford Dictionary of English take it as perhaps the slang funk, tobacco smoke, a sense of funk1.[15][6][12][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A state of panic or fear: 1743, as Oxford University slang, in Lye's edition of Junius's Etymologicum Anglicanum;[8][5] Barnhart adds that Junius compiled it before 1677.[5]

Semantic evolution

Green's Dictionary of Slang cites funk, cowardice, from a song of 1719.[10] The verb, to flinch or shrink through fear, appears in Horace Walpole's letters, from Eton, dated 1737–39 by Barnhart and ?1746 by the OED.[5][8] From 1834 it also meant to back out of something through cowardice.[8] Funk was a coward from 1859, in Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms,[8] and in a blue funk is recorded from 1861.[5] The Scottish funk, a fit of gloom or bad temper (1808), from the verb funk, to kick, is apparently of distinct origin but is also used in the phrase in a funk;[8] Etymonline takes the sense "depression, ill humour" as perhaps developed from the fear sense.[4] In northern and Scottish dialects the verb also meant to faint or to shirk a job.[11]

Timeline

  • 1719 – cowardice (Green's Dictionary of Slang).[10]
  • 1737 – verb, to flinch through fear (Barnhart).[5]
  • 1743 – a state of panic, as Oxford slang.[8][5]
  • 1808 – Scottish, a fit of gloom or bad temper.[8]
  • 1834 – verb, to back out of something through fear.[8]
  • 1859 – a coward.[8]
  • 1861 – in a blue funk.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A state of fear, panic or nervousness, especially in the phrases in a funk and in a blue funk.
  2. A state of depression or gloom.
  3. (chiefly British) A coward.

Verb

  1. To flinch or shrink back through fear.
  2. To avoid a task or duty out of fear; to shirk it: He funked the interview at the last minute.
  3. To make afraid.

Word family

  • blue funk
  • funker
  • funk hole
  • fume
  • fumigate

Usage notes

Several other words are spelled funk.[8][3] An obsolete funk, spark or touchwood (before 1393, in Gower), is probably from Middle Dutch vonke (“spark”);[8][6] in Scotland funk was also to kick, of a horse (about 1707), probably imitative.[8][3][11]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  11. ^ a b c Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  12. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  13. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  14. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  15. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Funk.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/funk. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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