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honk

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Etymology and origin of the English word honk

Pronunciation

  • UK: /hɒŋk/[1]
  • US: /hɑŋk/, /hɔŋk/[1]

honk1 goose cry, horn

Confidence
Established
Formation
Onomatopoeia
First attested
1804 before 1804, Boucher's Glossary

Etymology

The word for the goose's cry is imitative of the sound of a wild goose.[2][3][4][5][6] It began in American English.[7][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A wild goose: before 1804, in J. Boucher's glossary, a rare American sense now obsolete.[2] The harsh cry of a wild goose is recorded from 1813, in A. Wilson's American Ornithology, which also has the verb.[2][10] Etymonline dates the noun to 1814 and the verb to 1854,[7] Barnhart both to 1854, in Thoreau's Walden,[8] and Dictionary.com to 1790–1800.[9]

Semantic evolution

From 1869, in P. T. Barnum, the noun and verb were used of people making a similar sound, in laughing or blowing the nose.[2] The motor car gave the word its main modern use: the verb is recorded of a driver sounding the horn from 1895, in F. Remington,[2][7][8] and the noun for the sound of a car horn from 1905.[2] Also from 1905 it described the harsh tone of a reed instrument, especially the saxophone.[2] In American slang from 1906, in O. Henry, to honk was to say something loudly or boastfully.[11][2] The slang sense "to vomit", chiefly British and recorded from 1967, may be compared with the earlier adjective honkers.[2][12]

Timeline

  • before 1804 – a wild goose (US, obsolete).[2]
  • 1813 – the cry of a wild goose; to make this cry.[2][10]
  • 1839 – as an interjection imitating a goose.[2]
  • 1869 – a similar sound made by a person laughing or blowing the nose.[2]
  • 1895 – to sound the horn of a motor vehicle.[2][7][8]
  • 1905 – the sound of a car horn; of a reed instrument, to make a harsh sound.[2]
  • 1906 – to utter loudly or harshly.[2][11]
  • 1908 – to sound a horn (transitive).[2]
  • 1967 – to vomit (slang, chiefly British).[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The harsh cry of a goose.[12][10][2]
  2. A sound like this, especially that of a car horn: With a honk he pulled out of the drive.[12][10][2]

Verb

  1. Of a goose, to make its harsh cry.[10][2]
  2. To make, or to cause a horn to make, a honking sound: The taxi driver honked at the cyclist.[12][10][2]
  3. (slang, chiefly British) To vomit, often with up.[12][2]

Word family

  • honker

honk2 bad smell

Confidence
Uncertain
First attested
1953 S. J. Baker, Australia Speaks

Etymology

The word for a bad smell is of uncertain origin.[2] The OED compares a variant spelling of pong, and thinks speakers may have linked it with the goose's honk, unless it is a development of that word;[2] Green's Dictionary of Slang suggests Māori haunga (“ill-smelling”).[11] It began in Australia.[11][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

A strong, unpleasant smell: 1953, in S. J. Baker's Australia Speaks.[2][11]

Semantic evolution

The verb "to stink" followed in 1959, in Baker's Drum, apparently formed from the noun.[2] Green's Dictionary of Slang records it in Britain by 1978 and in South Africa by 1984, often intensified as honk like a gaggle of geese.[11] Collins labels both noun and verb British and Australian slang.[12]

Timeline

  • 1953 – a strong, unpleasant smell (Australia).[2][11]
  • 1959 – to stink.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (British and Australian slang) A strong, unpleasant smell; a stink.[12][2]

Verb

  1. (British and Australian slang) To smell strongly and unpleasantly.[12][2][11]

Usage notes

In Lakeland and Lancashire dialect a honk was a lazy, idle fellow, and to honk was to idle about.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
  6. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  7. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  9. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  10. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  13. ^ 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)
Cite this entry

“Honk.” Etymologically, 8 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/honk. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

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