Etymograph

English

tuck

Tuck comes from Middle English tuken ‘to tuck’, from Old English tūcian ‘to torment, vex’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- ‘to pull’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dewk-1‘to pull’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*teuh-1reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150tūcian1‘to torment, vex’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tuken1‘to tuck’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1907tuck1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English tuck
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1907, Robert William Chambers, His Own People: “It was flood-tide along Fifth Avenue; motor, brougham, and…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dewk-Wiktionary, English tuck‘to pull’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*teuh-Wiktionary, English tuckreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150tūcianWiktionary, English tuck‘to torment, vex’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tukenWiktionary, English tuck‘to tuck’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1907tuckWiktionary, English tuck. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1907, Robert William Chambers, His Own People: “It was flood-tide along Fifth Avenue; motor, brougham, and…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dewk- ‘to pull’

team, education, production, product, touch, produce, tie, duke, reduce, introduction, toy, conduct, reduction, introduce, tow, tying, dolphin, educate, tighten, duchess, induction, conn, educator, induce, deduction, duct, douche, subdue, conducive, tug, doge, herzog, tether, seduce, taut, redux, duchy, cond, transducer, untie, 126 more

Today it means

verb To pull or gather up (an item of fabric).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tuck”. 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 *dewk- / tuck

Shirt and support for this word