skunk English · revision 1060

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /skʌŋk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Earlier ''squunck'',^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) from a southern New England Algonquian language, probably Massachusett,^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) going back to Proto-Algonquian ''*šeka·kwa'', from ''*šek-'' “to urinate” and ''*-a·kw'' “fox, fox-like animal”.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) Barnhart instead suggests Abnaki ''seganku''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The North American animal of the weasel family known for its foul-smelling spray (1634).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The skunk was one of the earliest North American animals described by Europeans.^(Etymonline) By 1841 the name was used as an insult for a mean or contemptible person.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The verb comes from games: it meant “to fail” in 1831, in reference to not getting a king in checkers,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and “to defeat”, especially without letting the opponent score, by 1843.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) Later verb senses are “to fail to pay (a bill)” (1851) and “to cheat” (1890).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1634 – the animal, as ''squuncke''.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1701 – the spelling ''skunk''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1831 – verb, to fail (in a game).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1841 – a contemptible person.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1843 – to defeat, to keep from scoring.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1851 – to fail to pay.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1945 – US military slang, an unidentified ship.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any of several small black-and-white New World [[mammal|alt=mammals]], chiefly of the genus ''Mephitis'', that spray a foul-smelling liquid from glands near the [[anus]] when threatened.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The fur of this animal.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(informal)'' A thoroughly obnoxious or contemptible person.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To defeat overwhelmingly, especially by keeping the opponent from scoring; to [[shut out]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To cheat, or to fail to pay (a debt).^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[skunkworks]]

+ * [[skunky]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[polecat]]

+ * [[weasel]]

+ * [[skunk cabbage]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}