neck English · revision 4119

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=a. 899|origins=gem-pro *hnakkô}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /nek/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|nekke]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) [[inh|ang|hnecca|t=neck, nape, back of the neck]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*hnakkô|alt=*hnekk-|t=nape of the neck]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the source also of Old Frisian hnekka, Middle Dutch necke, Dutch nek, Old Norse hnakki and German Nacken “nape”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It has no certain cognates outside Germanic,^(Etymonline) though Barnhart and Hoad compare Old Irish cnocc “hill” and Welsh cnwch “joint, protuberance”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) The verb is from the noun.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English hnecca, the back of the neck: before 899, in Alfred's translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care,^(Barnhart 1988) about 897 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old English the word was rare;^(Cresswell 2021) the usual words were hals, the general Germanic word, and sweora, swira,^(Etymonline) which as halse and swire survive only in Scots and northern dialect.^(Cresswell 2021) As draught animals were yoked by the neck, it became a symbol of burdens and submission, and of obstinacy, as in [[stiff-necked]];^(Etymonline) figuratively “life” is from the late 15th century, from executions.^(Etymonline) The narrow part of a bottle is from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) the part of a garment around the neck from the 1520s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) an isthmus or narrow strip of land from the 1550s,^(Etymonline) and the neck of a stringed instrument from the 1610s.^(Etymonline) Horses have won races ''by a neck'' since at least 1791, hence ''neck and neck'';^(Cresswell 2021) ''neck of the woods'' is from a 17th-century American use of neck for a narrow strip of woodland.^(Cresswell 2021) The verb, “to kill by a blow on the neck”, is from the mid-15th century,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and “to kiss and caress” from 1825, first in northern English dialect.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) ''Neckerchief'' is from about 1384,^(Barnhart 1988) ''necklace'' from about 1590,^(Barnhart 1988) and ''necktie'' from 1838.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a. 899 – the back of the neck.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1450 – verb, to strike on the neck.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1550s – an isthmus.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1590 – ''necklace''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1791 – to win ''by a neck''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1825 – verb, to kiss and caress.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1838 – ''necktie''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The part of the body joining the [[head]] to the shoulders.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The part of a garment around or near the neck.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A narrow part joining two parts, as of a bottle, bone or organ.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The long, narrow part of a stringed instrument, holding the fingerboard.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A narrow strip of land or water.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A narrow margin: ''won by a neck''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(informal)'' To kiss and caress amorously.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To kill a fowl by breaking or cutting its neck.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[neckless]]

+ * [[necker]]

+ * [[necklike]]

+ * [[necking]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[neckerchief]]

+ * [[necklace]]

+ * [[necktie]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In south-western counties, and in Yorkshire, Pembrokeshire and Cornwall, the neck was the last handful or sheaf of corn cut at harvest, a word of unknown origin.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}