Etymograph

English

drake

Drake may come from Middle Low German drâke, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *anadrekō.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*anadrekō1literally ‘duck leader’next step skipped: Old English *draca
  2. Old Saxonc. 800–1200*anadrako1uncertain
  3. Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600drâke1uncertain
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500drake1‘male duck, drake’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1961drake1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English drake
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs: “A drake belonging to a chemist, having drunk water…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*anadrekōWiktionary, English drakeliterally ‘duck leader’next step skipped: Old English *draca
  2. Old Saxonc. 800–1200*anadrakoWiktionary, English drakeuncertain
  3. Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600drâkeWiktionary, English drakeuncertain
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500drakeWiktionary, English drake‘male duck, drake’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1961drakeWiktionary, English drake. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs: “A drake belonging to a chemist, having drunk water…”

A compound of *anad ‘duck’ + *rekō

Proto-Indo-European *h₂énh₂ts ‘duck’

Proto-Germanic *anadz ‘duck’

Proto-West Germanic *anad ‘duck’

Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- ‘to straighten’

Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs ‘king, ruler’

Proto-Germanic *rekô ‘ruler, chief’

Proto-West Germanic *rekō

Every English word from Proto-West Germanic *anadrekō

Another origin of drake

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*derḱ-‘to see’uncertain
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*dérkomaiuncertain
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδέρκομαιdérkomai‘to see clearly’uncertain
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδράκωνdrákōn‘serpent, giant seafish’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdracō‘dragon’
  6. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*drakō‘dragon’reconstructed
  7. Old Englishc. 450–1150draca‘dragon, sea monster, huge serpent’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500drake‘dragon’
  9. Englishtodaydrake

Today it means

noun A male duck (bird).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “drake”. 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-West Germanic *anadrekō / drake

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