English
corky
Corky comes from English cork ‘stopper’, and goes back to Spanish corcho ‘cork’.
- Spanishc. 1500–presentcorcho1‘cork’
- Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500curc1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cork1
- English1500–presentcork1‘stopper’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606corky1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English corky
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of King Lear: “Bind fast his corky arms.”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Spanishc. 1500–presentcorchoWiktionary, English corky‘cork’
- Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500curcWiktionary, English corky
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500corkWiktionary, English corky
- English1500–presentcorkWiktionary, English corky‘stopper’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606corkyWiktionary, English corky. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of King Lear: “Bind fast his corky arms.”
A compound of *(s)ker- ‘to cut off, sever’ + *(s)kert- ‘to cut’
Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut off, sever’
Proto-Indo-European *(s)kert- ‘to cut’
Linked words
through Latin cortex ‘the bark of a tree’
Another origin of corky
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kort-ek-sreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcortex‘the bark of a tree’uncertain
- Mozarabicmodern*kórčouncertain
- Spanishc. 1500–presentcorcho‘cork’
- Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500curc
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cork
- English1500–presentcork‘injure by a blow’
- Englishtodaycorky
Today it means
adj Of wine, contaminated by a faulty or tainted cork.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “corky”. 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 / Spanish corcho / corky