Etymograph

English

bark

Bark comes from Old English beorcan ‘to bark’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to drone, hum, buzz’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-1‘to drone, hum, buzz’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰerg-1‘to make a noise, growl, bark’uncertain
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*berkan1‘to bark’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150beorcan1‘to bark’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500barken1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1530bark1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English bark
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1530, Tyndale: “And therefore they bark, and say the scripture maketh…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-Wiktionary, English bark‘to drone, hum, buzz’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰerg-Wiktionary, English bark‘to make a noise, growl, bark’uncertain
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*berkanWiktionary, English bark‘to bark’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150beorcanWiktionary, English bark‘to bark’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500barkenWiktionary, English bark
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1530barkWiktionary, English bark. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1530, Tyndale: “And therefore they bark, and say the scripture maketh…”

The story

For the noun, compare Old English beorc, bearce (‘barking’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to drone, hum, buzz’

different, offer, difference, birth, reference, transfer, prefer, broad, bread, relative, suffer, translation, bear, relation, fortune, relate, burden, extraordinary, differ, bar, referendum, frustration, bore, translate, fury, breeze, referee, fertility, borne, fertile, barrel, berth, broom, phosphate, extravagant, fret, phosphorus, euphoria, defer, baron, 158 more

Another origin of bark

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰerHǵ-s‘birch bark’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*barkuz‘bark of a tree’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350bǫrkr‘tree bark’
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150barc
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bark
  6. Englishtodaybark

From Middle English bark, from Old English barc (‘bark’), from Old Norse bǫrkr (‘tree bark’), from Proto-Germanic *barkuz, probably related to *birkijǭ (‘birch’), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerHǵós (compare Latin frāxinus (‘ash’), Lithuanian béržas (‘birch’)), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerHǵ- (‘to gleam; white’) (compare English bright); akin to Danish bark, Icelandic börkur, Low German borke and Albanian berk (‘bast’).

Another origin of bark

  1. Egyptianc. 3200 BCE–600 CEbꜣjrb-bA-A-y:r*Z1-P1‘transport ship’
  2. Demotic Egyptianmodernbr
  3. Copticmodernⲃⲁⲁⲣⲉbaare‘small boat’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβᾶριςbâris‘Egyptian boat’
  5. Classical Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbāris
  6. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*baricareconstructed
  7. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEbarca‘baris’regular syncope of *barica
  8. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600barque
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500barke‘boat’
  10. Englishtodaybark

Today it means

verb To make a short, loud, explosive noise with the vocal organs (said of animals, especially dogs).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bark”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- / bark

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