yoke

Pronunciation

• IPA: /joʊk/; /jəʊk/ (UK)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English yok, inherited from Old English ġeoc,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Proto-Germanic *juką,^[3][4] from the Proto-Indo-European root *yeug- “to join”.^[2][4] It is related to German Joch, Gothic 𐌾𐌿𐌺 (juk), Latin iugum, Ancient Greek ζυγόν (zugón) and Sanskrit yuga.^[3][4][5][6] Weekley calls it a word from the earliest agricultural age of mankind.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Old English word meant both the device for coupling draught animals and, figuratively, a heavy burden, oppression or servitude (before 899).^[3][4] An earlier form geoht meant a pair of draught animals (688–95).^[3]

Semantic evolution

Old English also used geoc for a pair of animals yoked together and for as much land as a pair of oxen could plough in a day.^[4] The Romans made the defeated pass under a yoke as a sign of submission,^[7][5] which underlies the figurative “yoke” of subjection.^[7] The word was extended to many things resembling a yoke, such as a frame for carrying pails on the shoulders (c. 1618)^[7] and the fitted shoulder piece of a garment (1880).^[7] Of people, it was used of those joined by a tie such as marriage, often contemptuously (late 14th century).^[4]

Timeline

• 688–95 – geoht, a pair of draught animals.^[3]
• before 899 – a yoke; heavy burden, servitude.^[3][4]
• before 1000 – verb, to couple with a yoke.^[7][3]
• c. 1325 – verb, to subjugate.^[7]
• c. 1618 – a frame for carrying loads on the shoulders.^[7]
• 1880 – the fitted shoulder part of a garment.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A wooden crossbar with two U-shaped pieces that fit round the necks of a pair of oxen or other draught animals working together.
2. A pair of draught animals joined by a yoke.
3. A frame carried across a person's shoulders with a load hanging from each end.
4. A fitted part of a garment at the shoulders or hips from which the rest hangs.
5. Something that oppresses or binds; bondage or servitude, as in the yoke of tyranny.
6. Any of various connecting or supporting crosspieces, such as a crossbar on a ship's rudder.

Verb

1. To fit or join with a yoke; to harness (a draught animal) to a vehicle or implement.
2. To join securely as if with a yoke; to link, often in marriage.
3. To force into heavy labour or subjection.

Word family

• unyoke
• yokefellow

Related words

• join
• jugular
• conjugal
• yoga
• zygote

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press