Etymograph

English

beccal

Beccal comes from Latin beccus ‘beak’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbeccus1‘beak’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1997beccal1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English beccal
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1997, Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon: “It faced me…its ominous Beak crank’d open…it quack’d, its…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbeccusWiktionary, English beccal‘beak’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1997beccalWiktionary, English beccal. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1997, Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon: “It faced me…its ominous Beak crank’d open…it quack’d, its…”

Linked words

through Latin beccus ‘beak’

buckle, beck, beak, bouche, 9 more

Today it means

adj Pertaining to a beak or bill.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “beccal”. 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 / Latin beccus / beccal

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