English
sulk
Sulk may come from Proto-Indo-European *selǵ- ‘to let go, send’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*selǵ-1‘to let go, send’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*sulke1uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1886sulk1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English sulk
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1886, – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson: “Mr. Riach, who had been to the college, spoke…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*selǵ-Wiktionary, English sulk‘to let go, send’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*sulkeWiktionary, English sulkuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1886sulkWiktionary, English sulk. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1886, – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson: “Mr. Riach, who had been to the college, spoke…”
The story
Probably from Middle English *sulke, *solke (attested in solcenesse (‘idleness; laziness’), from Old English āsolcennys (‘idleness; slothfulness; sluggishness; laziness’), from āsolcen (‘sulky, languid’), from past participle of Old English āseolcan (‘be slow; be weak or slothful; languish’), from Proto-Germanic *selkaną (‘to fall in drops; dribble; droop’), from Proto-Indo-European *sélǵ-o-nom, from *selǵ- (‘to let go, send’).
Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *selǵ-
Another origin of sulk
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*selk-‘to pull, drag’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsulcus‘a furrow made by a plow’
- Englishtodaysulk
Today it means
verb To express ill humor or offence by remaining sullenly silent or withdrawn.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “sulk”. 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 *selǵ- / sulk