deck English · revision 5379

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1466|origins=ine-pro *(s)teg-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|dekke]], probably [[bor|dum|dec|alt=dec, decke|t=roof, covering, cloak]], from [[m|dum|decken|t=to cover]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*thakam]], the source also of [[thatch]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[ine-pro|*(s)teg-|t=to cover]].^(Etymonline) The nautical sense seems to be an English development, since the Dutch word is not recorded with it until about 160 years later.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A covering, apparently some material for covering: 1466 in the OED and Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) Originally it was canvas or similar material used as a covering, especially on a ship.^(Cresswell 2021)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By 1513 it meant the platform extending across a ship.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) A pack of cards is from the 1590s, about 1593 in Shakespeare's 3 Henry VI, perhaps because the cards were stacked like a ship's decks.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) ''On deck'', ready for duty, is by 1740, and in baseball of the next batter by 1867.^(Etymonline) ''Clear the decks'' (1852) was to prepare a ship for action.^(Etymonline) A deck chair is from 1844, from ocean liners,^(Etymonline) the floor of an omnibus or tram from 1869,^(OED 1989) and the tape deck from 1949.^(Etymonline) The verb, to cover, is from 1513, and to clothe or adorn, as in ''deck the halls'', from 1514, from Dutch dekken.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The slang sense “to knock down”, probably from laying someone out on a deck, is from about 1953.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1466 – a covering.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1513 – a ship's platform.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1514 – verb, to adorn.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1590s – a pack of cards.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1844 – ''deck chair''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1949 – ''tape deck''.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1953 – to knock down.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A floor or platform built across a [[ship]] or boat.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A similar floor, as of a bus.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(chiefly US)'' A pack of [[playing card|alt=playing cards]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An unroofed wooden platform built onto a house.^(AHD)

+ # A tape deck or the part of a record player that holds the turntable.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To decorate: ''decked with flowers''.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(slang)'' To knock someone down.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bedeck]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[thatch]]

+ * [[deckhand]]

+ * [[deck chair]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Deck, a look, in British colloquial speech of Anglo-Indian origin (19th century), is a different word, from Hindi dekh “look!”; compare [[dekko]].^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}