welk
/wɛlk/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.98 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Alternative form of whelk.
name
A surname.
Example Sentences
- "As gentle Shepheard in ſweete euentide, / When ruddy Phebus gins to welke in weſt, [...]"
- "[T]he Church that before by inſenſible degrees welk'd and impair'd, now with large ſteps went down hill decaying; [...]"
- "But nowe ſadde Winter welked hath the day, / And Phœbus weary of his yerely taſ-ke: / Yſtabled hath his ſteedes in lowlye laye / And taken vp his ynne in Fiſhes haſ-ke."
Etymology
From Middle English welken, probably from a continental Germanic language; compare Middle Dutch welken (Dutch welken) and Middle Low German welken. Cognate with German welken. Ultimately, from Proto-West Germanic *wilkijan (“to become soft”), from Proto-Germanic *welkaz (“soft, withered”), according to Kluge, related to *wulkną (“cloud”). Compare also Old English wealwian (“to fade, wither”), Old English wlacu (“tepid, lukewarm”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: welken, -, *wilkijan, *welkaz, welich, welag