tank English · revision 4454

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1616|origins=pt tanque}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /tæŋk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It came from India in the early 17th century, from a word such as Gujarati tankh “cistern”, Marathi tanken or tanka “reservoir”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit tadaga “pond, lake”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) The later sense, a container, may have been reinforced by Portuguese [[m|pt|tanque|t=reservoir, pond]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) short for estanque, from estancar “to hold back a flow”,^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) from Vulgar Latin *stanticāre, the source of [[stanch]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) Merriam-Webster and the Century Dictionary take the Portuguese word as the source and the resemblance to the Indian words as coincidence.^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) Barnhart suggests that it was also associated with [[tankard]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In India, a pool, lake or artificial reservoir for irrigation or drinking water: about 1616 in the OED and Barnhart,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) the 1610s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A large artificial container for liquid is from 1690, in Dryden's Don Sebastian,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) the fuel tank of a motor vehicle from 1902,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) the railway tank car from 1874,^(Etymonline) and the oil ''tanker'' from 1900.^(Barnhart 1988) The armoured fighting vehicle was named in late 1915 in the British army:^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) a memorandum of 24 December 1915 proposed, for secrecy, a “Tank Supply Committee”, and tank was chosen over cistern and reservoir because it was shorter.^(Etymonline) The machines were shipped under canvas as “water tanks”,^(Barnhart 1988) and first saw action on 15 September 1916.^(Etymonline) The slang sense “police cell” is from 1912, American,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''tanked'', drunk, from 1893,^(Etymonline) and the verb “to lose or fail deliberately”, apparently first in tennis, from 1967.^(Etymonline) The ''tank top'' resembles the top of a ''tank suit'', a swimsuit worn in swimming tanks.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1616 – a reservoir in India.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1690 – a container for liquid.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1863 – verb, to immerse in a tank.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1874 – tank car.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1893 – ''tanked'', drunk.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1900 – ''tanker''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1902 – a fuel tank.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1912 – a police cell.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1915 – an armoured vehicle.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1967 – verb, to lose deliberately.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large [[container]] for holding liquid or gas, or the amount it holds.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An armoured combat vehicle with [[tracks]] and a gun in a turret.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(chiefly India)'' A [[reservoir]], pool or pond.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(slang)'' A cell in a police station.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To put or store in a tank.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''tank up'': to fill a tank with [[fuel]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' To fail or lose, sometimes on purpose.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tankful]]

+ * [[tankless]]

+ * [[tanklike]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[stanch]]

+ * [[tankard]]

+ * [[tanker]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}