Etymograph

English

tank

Tank comes from Portuguese tanque ‘liquid container’, probably from Gujarati ટાંકી ‘cistern’; the 1915 war machines were disguised as water tanks.

  1. Gujaratimodernટાંકી1ṭā̃kī‘cistern’uncertain
  2. Portuguesec. 1500–presenttanque1‘tank, liquid container’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1896tank1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English tank
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1896, Henry Lawson: “The tanks are full and the grass is high.”.

Lineage

  1. GujaratimodernટાંકીWiktionary, English tankṭā̃kī‘cistern’uncertain
  2. Portuguesec. 1500–presenttanqueWiktionary, English tank‘tank, liquid container’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1896tankWiktionary, English tank. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1896, Henry Lawson: “The tanks are full and the grass is high.”

first attested First attested in 1915, but in common usage only as of 1916 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

A false friend can be found in North Germanic: dunk (‘canister, keg’), 17th c. tönk, which appears derived from both Low German tunneke, Dutch tonneke (diminutive of "barrel"), and dunka (‘to dunk, to dip under water, to moisten’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Explore everything descended from ટાંકી →

No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.

Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app

Today it means

noun A closed container for liquids or gases.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tank”. 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 / Gujarati ટાંકી / tank