sink

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsɪŋk/; /ˈsiŋk/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English sinken, inherited from Old English sincan (“to become submerged, go under”) (past tense sanc, participle suncen),^[2][3][4][5] from Proto-Germanic *sinkwaną,^[3][2] cognate with Old Saxon sinkan, Dutch zinken, German sinken, Old Norse sǫkkva and Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌲𐌵𐌰𐌽 (sigqan),^[2][3][4] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *sengʷ- (“to sink”);^[3] Hoad calls it of unknown origin.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To become submerged: Old English, about 950 in Barnhart.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The transitive sense, to make something sink, is from the late 12th century and replaced Middle English sench (compare drink and drench).^[3][4] To penetrate, of a blow, is from about 1300, and to make an impression on the mind from the early 14th century.^[3] To fall into a worse state is from the early 14th century, and to decrease in value from the 1590s.^[3] Sink or swim is from the 1660s, and sink without trace is First World War military jargon, translating German spurlos versenkt.^[3] The noun, a pit for waste water, is from the early 15th century, a drain from the late 15th, and a basin with a drainpipe, as in a kitchen, by the 1560s.^[3][6] A place of vice, a sink of iniquity, is from the 1520s.^[3][6]

Timeline

• c. 950 – to go under.^[2]
• late 12th century – to make sink.^[3]
• early 15th century – a cesspool.^[3]
• 1520s – a place of vice.^[3]
• 1560s – a kitchen sink.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To go down below the surface of water or another liquid.
2. To cause a ship to sink.
3. To move or fall slowly downwards; to decline.
4. To dig or drill: sink a well.
5. To put money into a business; to invest.

Noun

1. A fixed basin with a water supply and drain, as in a kitchen.
2. A place where vice or corruption is rife.

Word family

• sinkable
• sinklike
• sinkage
• unsinkability
• unsinkable
• countersink
• sinker
• sinkless

Related words

• sank
• sunk
• sunken
• sinkhole

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press