Etymograph

English

quirk

Quirk may come from Middle English *querk.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*querk1uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1605quirk1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English quirk
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1605, Ben[jamin] Jonson: “Had you no quirk / To avoid gullage, sir,…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*querkWiktionary, English quirkuncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1605quirkWiktionary, English quirk. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1605, Ben[jamin] Jonson: “Had you no quirk / To avoid gullage, sir,…”

first attested First attested in the 1540s (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in the 1540s. Likely not related to queer.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷerh₃- ‘to devour’

gorge, devour, voracious, herbivorous, gurgle, ouroboros, 24 more

Today it means

noun An idiosyncrasy; a slight glitch, a mannerism; something unusual about the manner or style of something or someone.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “quirk”. 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 / Middle English *querk / quirk

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