Etymograph

English

oka

Oka comes from Italian oca ‘goose’, from French oque ‘an oka: any of various units of mass formerly…’, and ultimately from Ottoman Turkish اوقه.

  1. Ottoman Turkishc. 1300–1928اوقه1okka‘an oka, a former Turkish unit of weight, usually a little more than a kilogram’
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentoque1‘an oka: any of various units of mass formerly used in Turkey, Greece, and Egypt’
  3. Italianc. 1300–presentoca1‘goose’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1819oka1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English oka
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1819, Abraham Rees, The Cyclopaedia: “At Constantinople, the cantaro, or quintal, contains 44 okes,…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Ottoman Turkishc. 1300–1928اوقهWiktionary, English okaokka‘an oka, a former Turkish unit of weight, usually a little more than a kilogram’
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentoqueWiktionary, English oka‘an oka: any of various units of mass formerly used in Turkey, Greece, and Egypt’
  3. Italianc. 1300–presentocaWiktionary, English oka‘goose’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1819okaWiktionary, English oka. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1819, Abraham Rees, The Cyclopaedia: “At Constantinople, the cantaro, or quintal, contains 44 okes,…”

Linked words

through Italian oca ‘goose’

ocarina

Today it means

noun A former Turkish, Egyptian, Hungarian, and Romanian unit of weight, usually of a little more than a kilogram.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “oka”. 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 / Ottoman Turkish اوقه / oka

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