drake English · revision 10816
17 Oct 2026, 06:01 by bogdan “en10k b0390: wreck … marble”
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+ Drake, a male duck, is a Germanic word of obscure origin; drake, a mayfly used as bait, goes back to Old English draca, dragon, from Latin dracō.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /dreɪk/^(Roach et al. 2011)
+
+ {{homograph|1|male duck}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1300|origins=gmw-pro *drakō}}
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is unrecorded in Old English, though it may have existed,^(Etymonline) and corresponds to Low German drake and the second element of Old High German anutrehho (German Enterich), from West Germanic [[m|gmw-pro|*drakō]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) Hoad calls it of obscure origin.^(Hoad 1986) The first part of the Old High German word is anut, duck, cognate with Latin anas and Greek nêtta, duck.^(Barnhart 1988)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A male duck: about 1300, in Havelok the Dane.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ Collins defines it as the male of any duck.^(Collins 2023)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 1300 – a male duck.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A male [[duck]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+
+ {{homograph|2|dragon, mayfly}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1000|origins=ang draca|origins=la draco}}
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[inh|ang|draca|t=dragon, sea monster]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) an early West Germanic borrowing of Latin [[m|la|dracō]] (see [[dragon]]).^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A dragon: before 1000.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ A fiery meteor was a drake from about 1205,^(OED 1989) and a kind of small cannon from 1625.^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) Anglers have called a mayfly or an artificial fly like it a drake since the 17th century.^(Hoad 1986)^(Collins 2023)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * before 1000 – a dragon.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1625 – a small cannon.^(OED 1989)
+ * 17th century – a mayfly (angling).^(Hoad 1986)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # ''(angling)'' A [[mayfly]], or an artificial fly made to look like one.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # ''(history)'' A small cannon.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)
+ # ''(obsolete)'' A [[dragon]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[duck]]
+ * [[dragon]]
+ * [[firedrake]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}