Etymograph

English

ogonek

Ogonek comes from Polish ogonek ‘diminutive of ogon’, from ogon ‘tail’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- ‘to strike, slay, kill’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷʰen-1‘to strike, slay, kill’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷʰónos1‘killing, slaughter’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Slavicc. 400–900 CE*gonъ1‘chase, pursuit’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Slavicc. 400–900 CE*ogonъ1reconstructed
  5. Polishmodernogon1‘tail’
  6. Polishmodernogonek1‘diminutive of ogon’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2023ogonek1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English ogonek
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2023, Mia Cinelli, Giving Type Meaning: Context and Craft in Typography: “The pangram “Pchnąć w tę łódź jeża lub ośm…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷʰen-Wiktionary, English ogonek‘to strike, slay, kill’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷʰónosWiktionary, English ogonek‘killing, slaughter’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Slavicc. 400–900 CE*gonъWiktionary, English ogonek‘chase, pursuit’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Slavicc. 400–900 CE*ogonъWiktionary, English ogonekreconstructed
  5. PolishmodernogonWiktionary, English ogonek‘tail’
  6. PolishmodernogonekWiktionary, English ogonek‘diminutive of ogon’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2023ogonekWiktionary, English ogonek. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2023, Mia Cinelli, Giving Type Meaning: Context and Craft in Typography: “The pangram “Pchnąć w tę łódź jeża lub ośm…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- ‘to strike, slay, kill’

defend, offensive, offense, fence, offend, fend, bane, infest, 4 more

Today it means

noun A hook-shaped diacritical mark ⟨◌̨⟩ attached underneath a vowel, typically to indicate nasalization, as in Ąą, Ęę, Įį, Ǫǫ or Ųų.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ogonek”. 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 *gʷʰen- / ogonek

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