Etymograph

English

pack

Pack comes from Middle English pak ‘bundle’, from Old English *pæcca and/or Middle Dutch pak, from Proto-Germanic *pakkô ‘bundle’, of unknown origin.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*pakkô1‘bundle, pack’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*pakkō1reconstructed
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pak1‘a bundle or package’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1854pack1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English pack
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1854, Henry David Thoreau: “We do not ask him to make up his…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*pakkôWiktionary, English pack‘bundle, pack’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*pakkōWiktionary, English packreconstructed
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pakWiktionary, English pack‘a bundle or package’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1854packWiktionary, English pack. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1854, Henry David Thoreau: “We do not ask him to make up his…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with pack, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰask- ‘bundle’

through Proto-Celtic *baskis ‘bundle, load’

  • basin ← basyn ← bacin ← *baccinum ← bacca
  • basket ← bascat ← bascauda
  • baste ← basten ← basser ← bacin ← *baccinum

4 more relatives in the full family tree

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Another origin of pack

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰask-‘bundle’uncertain
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*baskis‘bundle, load’uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*pakkô‘bundle’uncertain
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*pakkōuncertain
  5. Old Dutchc. 500–1150*pakkouncertain
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150*pæccauncertain
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pak‘a bundle or package’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pakken‘to pack’
  9. Englishtodaypack

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Today it means

noun A bundle made up and prepared to be carried; especially, a bundle to be carried on the back, but also a load for an animal, a bale.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pack”. 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-Germanic *pakkô / pack