yokel English · revision 1235

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈjəʊ.kəl/ ''(UK)''; /ˈjoʊ.kəl/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is of unknown or uncertain origin.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) It may be from dialect German ''Jokel'', a disparaging name for a farmer, originally a diminutive of ''Jakob'',^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) or from English dialect ''yokel'' “green woodpecker”, of imitative origin.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) Barnhart and Etymonline compare the similar use of ''Rube''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An ignorant countryman; a country bumpkin (1812, slang).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word has kept its contemptuous sense of an unsophisticated rustic.^(OED 1989)^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) Merriam-Webster adds the sense of someone naive or gullible from a rural area or small town.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1812 – a country bumpkin.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1886 – ''yokeldom'', ''yokelish''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An unsophisticated person from the countryside; a [[bumpkin]] or [[rustic]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[yokelish]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bumpkin]]

+ * [[hick]]

+ * [[rube]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}