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yokel

Etymology and origin of the English word yokel

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈjəʊ.kəl/ (UK); /ˈjoʊ.kəl/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is of unknown or uncertain origin.[2][3][4][5] It may be from dialect German Jokel, a disparaging name for a farmer, originally a diminutive of Jakob,[3][4] or from English dialect yokel “green woodpecker”, of imitative origin.[4][6] Barnhart and Etymonline compare the similar use of Rube.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

An ignorant countryman; a country bumpkin (1812, slang).[7][3][4][6]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its contemptuous sense of an unsophisticated rustic.[7][2][6] Merriam-Webster adds the sense of someone naive or gullible from a rural area or small town.[6]

Timeline

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An unsophisticated person from the countryside; a bumpkin or rustic.

Word family

  • yokelish

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 Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Yokel.” Etymologically, 11 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/yokel. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·