Etymograph

English

funk

Funk comes from Old Northern French fungier ‘to smoke’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰewh₂-1‘smoke’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰuh₂mós1‘smoke’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*θūmos1reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fūmos1‘smoke’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfūmus1‘smoke’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfumigo2as fūmigāre, alteration‘to smoke, fumigate’
  7. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEfūmicāre2
  8. Old Northern Frenchc. 842–1400fungier2‘to smoke’
  9. Frenchc. 1600–presentfunquer2
  10. Frenchc. 1600–presentdialectal2
  11. Englishearliest quotation c. 1709funk2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin fumigo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English funk
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1709, William King: “He funks Basketia and her son to death”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰewh₂-Wiktionary, Latin fumigo‘smoke’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰuh₂mósWiktionary, Latin fumigo‘smoke’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*θūmosWiktionary, Latin fumigoreconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fūmosWiktionary, Latin fumigo‘smoke’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfūmusWiktionary, Latin fumigo‘smoke’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfumigoWiktionary, English funkas fūmigāre, alteration‘to smoke, fumigate’
  7. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEfūmicāreWiktionary, English funk
  8. Old Northern Frenchc. 842–1400fungierWiktionary, English funk‘to smoke’
  9. Frenchc. 1600–presentfunquerWiktionary, English funk
  10. Frenchc. 1600–presentdialectalWiktionary, English funk
  11. Englishearliest quotation c. 1709funkWiktionary, English funk. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1709, William King: “He funks Basketia and her son to death”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- ‘smoke’

down, steam, dye, dew, duvet, dag, dune, dun, thymus, typhon, obfuscate, 27 more

through Latin fūmus ‘smoke’

fume, 14 more

through Latin fumigo ‘to smoke, fumigate’

fumigation, 1 more

Today it means

noun Foul or unpleasant smell, especially body odor.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “funk”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin fumigo. 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 *dʰewh₂- / funk

Shirt and support for this word