Etymograph

English

tack

Tack comes from Middle English tak.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tak1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1612tack1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English tack
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts: “So stoutly held to tack by those near North-wales…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500takWiktionary, English tack
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1612tackWiktionary, English tack. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts: “So stoutly held to tack by those near North-wales…”

Every English word from Middle English tak

Another origin of tack

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500takken‘to attach’
  2. Englishtodaytack

Another origin of tack

  1. Frenchc. 1600–presenttache
  2. Englishtodaytack

Today it means

noun A small nail with a flat head.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tack”. 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 tak / tack

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