fuck English · revision 3684

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1503}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fʌk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is not known for certain.^(SOED 2002)^(GDoS) It first appears in a coded line of the poem “Flen flyys”, written in mixed Latin and English before 1500, where the cipher “gxddbov” stands for “fuccant”, a mock-Latin “they fuck”.^(AHD 2000)^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster compares [[nl|fokken|t=to breed (cattle)]] and Swedish dialectal [[m|sv|fokka|t=to copulate]],^(MW Collegiate) and calls it Germanic, akin to [[dum|fokken|t=to push, thrust, copulate]].^(MWU 2024) Liberman places it among many Germanic verbs with roots such as fik-, fak-, fuk- and fok- whose basic meaning is “to move back and forth”, often also “to cheat”, among them [[de|ficken]].^(Liberman 2008) He concludes that the English verb was most probably [[bor|nds|-]] rather than a native word going back to Old English, and that it has no cognates outside Germanic.^(Liberman 2008) He and Green both reject a link with [[la|pugnāre|t=to fight, strike]], which Partridge had suggested.^(Liberman 2008)^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To copulate: about 1503 according to the OED, in the form ''fukkit'',^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) while Green's first printed example is from William Dunbar in 1508.^(GDoS) The spelling ''fuck'' appears in 1535 in Sir David Lyndsay's ''Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaits''.^(Etymonline) Etymonline mentions a possible use in an English court record of 1310 and the surname ''John le Fucker'' from 1278, which may have other explanations.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word was taboo from the first: its earliest appearance is in code.^(AHD 2000) John Florio listed it in his dictionary of 1598,^(GDoS)^(Hendrickson 2008) but it has been treated as a slang or taboo term since about 1690,^(GDoS) Johnson left it out, and no English dictionary included it between 1795 and 1965;^(Etymonline) the original OED also omitted it.^(Etymonline) In the 18th century it was usually printed as ''f––k''.^(GDoS) It returned to literature in Joyce's ''Ulysses'' (1922),^(GDoS) and the Penguin dictionary printed it in 1965, followed by the American Heritage Dictionary in 1969.^(Etymonline) The noun, “an act of copulation”, is found from 1663^(MWU 2024)^(HTOED) or 1680,^(OED 1989) and “a person considered as a sexual partner” from 1874.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Profane use in curses dates from 1922, ''not give a fuck'' and “to blunder” from 1929,^(OED 1989) ''fuck-up'' from 1958 and ''fuck-all'' from 1960.^(OED 1989) ''Fucking'' as a mere intensive is first recorded about 1568.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1500 – coded ''fuccant'' (“Flen flyys”).^(AHD 2000)

+ * c. 1503 – ''fukkit'', to copulate.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1508 – first printed use (Dunbar).^(GDoS)

+ * 1535 – the spelling ''fuck'' (Lyndsay).^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1568 – ''fucking''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1598 – in Florio's dictionary.^(GDoS)

+ * 1663 – noun, an act of copulation.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1874 – a person as a sexual partner.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1922 – in curses, and in ''Ulysses''.^(OED 1989)^(GDoS)

+ * 1929 – ''not give a fuck'', and “to blunder”.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1960 – ''fuck-all''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(coarse slang)'' To have [[sexual intercourse]] (with).^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(coarse slang)'' To treat unfairly; to [[victimize]].^(AHD)

+ # ''(coarse slang)'' To spoil or ruin; with ''up'', to [[bungle]].^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(coarse slang)'' Used in curses and to dismiss someone angrily.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(coarse slang)'' An act of sexual intercourse.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(coarse slang)'' A sexual partner; also, a despised person.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(coarse slang)'' The least amount: ''not give a fuck''.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Interjection===

+ # ''(coarse slang)'' Expressing extreme anger or annoyance.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fucky]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fiddle]]

+ * [[fidget]]

+ * [[screw]]

+ * [[swive]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Hendrickson rejects the popular story that the word comes from a police record entry “for unlawful carnal knowledge”.^(Hendrickson 2008)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}