hook English · revision 5777

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 700}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /hʊk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|hok]], [[inh|ang|hōc|t=hook, angle]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) found before 700 in the compound wēodhōc “weed hook”,^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*hōkaz]].^(Barnhart 1988) It corresponds to Old Frisian hōk “corner, edge” and Middle Dutch hoec (Dutch hoek “corner, angle”),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) and is perhaps related to Old English haca “bolt”, Old High German hāko (German Haken) and Old Norse haki “hook”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Barnhart and Etymonline trace it to the PIE root [[ine-pro|*keg-|t=hook, tooth]], which also gave Russian kógot' “claw”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The spelling ''hook'', first recorded about 1440, parallels [[hoof]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A bent piece of metal or other material for catching, holding or hanging something: about 900 in the OED.^(OED 1989) The fishhook is from about 950, and a reaping hook or sickle is recorded before 700.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative sense, something that catches or ensnares, is from the early 15th century, 1430–40 in the OED.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A projecting point of land is from the 1670s, and in American use was probably reinforced by Dutch hoek.^(Etymonline) The verb, first “to bend like a hook” (about 1200), came to mean catching a fish with a hook about 1300 and fastening with hooks in the 1610s;^(Etymonline) ''hooked on'', addicted or captivated, is slang from 1925.^(OED 1989) The boxing blow is from 1898, and the holder for a telephone receiver from 1885.^(Etymonline) In slang the noun has meant the fingers or hands since the 17th century, and the verb to steal since 1614.^(GDoS) ''Off the hook'' and ''hook, line, and sinker'' are both mid-19th-century.^(Cresswell 2021) In Scots and northern dialect ''to hook it'' means to run away.^(Wright 1898)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 700 – wēodhōc, a weed hook.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 900 – a hook for catching or hanging.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1200 – the verb, to bend like a hook.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1430–40 – a snare, figuratively.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1670s – a projecting point of land.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1885 – a telephone hook.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1898 – a hook in boxing.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1925 – ''hooked'', addicted.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A bent or curved piece of [[metal]] or other material for catching, holding or hanging things; a [[fishhook]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Something that attracts interest, such as a catchy part of a song.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # A sharp bend, or a curved spit of land.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # In [[boxing]], a short swinging blow made with the elbow bent.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # In [[golf]] and other ball games, a shot that curves away to one side.^(AHD)^(Chambers 2008)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To catch, fasten or hang with a hook.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To attract and hold the interest of.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(slang)'' To make [[addict|alt=addicted]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # To make a rug by pulling yarn through canvas with a hook.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # To hit a ball so that it curves to one side.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[hookless]]

+ * [[hooklike]]

+ * [[hooker]]

+ * [[hook up]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[hook-up]]

+ * [[hookah]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}