yoke English · revision 972

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /joʊk/; /jəʊk/ ''(UK)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|yok]], [[inh|ang|ġeoc]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from [[gem-pro|*juką]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) from the Proto-Indo-European root ''*yeug-'' “to join”.^(AHD)^(Etymonline) It is related to [[de|Joch]], [[got|𐌾𐌿𐌺|tr=juk]], [[la|iugum]], [[grc|ζυγόν|tr=zugón]] and Sanskrit ''yuga''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) Weekley calls it a word from the earliest agricultural age of mankind.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Old English word meant both the device for coupling draught animals and, figuratively, a heavy burden, oppression or servitude (before 899).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) An earlier form ''geoht'' meant a pair of draught animals (688–95).^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old English also used ''geoc'' for a pair of animals yoked together and for as much land as a pair of oxen could plough in a day.^(Etymonline) The Romans made the defeated pass under a yoke as a sign of submission,^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) which underlies the figurative “yoke” of subjection.^(OED 1989) The word was extended to many things resembling a yoke, such as a frame for carrying pails on the shoulders (c. 1618)^(OED 1989) and the fitted shoulder piece of a garment (1880).^(OED 1989) Of people, it was used of those joined by a tie such as marriage, often contemptuously (late 14th century).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 688–95 – ''geoht'', a pair of draught animals.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * before 899 – a yoke; heavy burden, servitude.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1000 – verb, to couple with a yoke.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * c. 1325 – verb, to subjugate.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1618 – a frame for carrying loads on the shoulders.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1880 – the fitted shoulder part of a garment.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A wooden crossbar with two U-shaped pieces that fit round the necks of a pair of [[ox|alt=oxen]] or other draught animals working together.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A pair of draught animals joined by a yoke.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A frame carried across a person's shoulders with a load hanging from each end.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # A fitted part of a garment at the shoulders or hips from which the rest hangs.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # Something that oppresses or binds; [[bondage]] or [[servitude]], as in ''the yoke of tyranny''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Any of various connecting or supporting crosspieces, such as a crossbar on a ship's rudder.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To fit or join with a yoke; to harness (a draught animal) to a vehicle or implement.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To join securely as if with a yoke; to link, often in marriage.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To force into heavy labour or subjection.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[unyoke]]

+ * [[yokefellow]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[join]]

+ * [[jugular]]

+ * [[conjugal]]

+ * [[yoga]]

+ * [[zygote]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}