Etymograph

English

puckle

Puckle comes from Old English pūcel ‘a goblin, demon, a mischievous spirit’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)pāug(')- ‘brilliance, spectre’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)pāug(')-1‘brilliance, spectre’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*pūkô1‘a goblin, spook’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*pūkō1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150pūca2‘demon, goblin, imp’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150pūcel2‘a goblin, demon, a mischievous spirit’diminutive of pūca
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*poukel2reconstructed
  7. Englishtodaypuckle2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English puca
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English puckle

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)pāug(')-Wiktionary, Old English puca‘brilliance, spectre’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*pūkôWiktionary, Old English puca‘a goblin, spook’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*pūkōWiktionary, Old English pucareconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150pūcaWiktionary, English puckle‘demon, goblin, imp’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150pūcelWiktionary, English puckle‘a goblin, demon, a mischievous spirit’diminutive of pūca
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*poukelWiktionary, English pucklereconstructed
  7. EnglishtodaypuckleWiktionary, English puckle

Formed from puck + -le

Proto-Germanic *pūkô ‘a goblin, spook’

Proto-West Germanic *pūkō

Old English pūca ‘goblin, demon’

Middle English pouke ‘a malign spirit or creature’

English puck

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pāug(')-

Today it means

noun The devil; Satan.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “puckle”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old English puca. 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 *(s)pāug(')- / puckle

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