Etymograph

English

yolk

Yolk comes from Old English ġeolca ‘the yellow part, yolk’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰelh₃-1‘green, yellow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gelwaz1‘yellow’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gelu1‘yellow’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġeolu2‘yellow’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġeolca2‘the yellow part, yolk’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500yolke2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1846yolk2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English geolu
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English yolk
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1846, The Cultivator: “Wool-growers appear to entertain different opinions in regard to…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰelh₃-Wiktionary, Old English geolu‘green, yellow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gelwazWiktionary, Old English geolu‘yellow’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*geluWiktionary, Old English geolu‘yellow’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġeoluWiktionary, English yolk‘yellow’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġeolcaWiktionary, English yolk‘the yellow part, yolk’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500yolkeWiktionary, English yolk
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1846yolkWiktionary, English yolk. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1846, The Cultivator: “Wool-growers appear to entertain different opinions in regard to…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- ‘green, yellow’

fell, gold, chlorine, gall, felon, gullible, cholera, glib, gild, choline, zloty, chlorella, 27 more

through Old English ġeolu ‘yellow’

yellow

Today it means

noun The yellow, spherical part of an egg that is surrounded by the white albumen, and serves as nutriment for the growing young.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “yolk”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old English geolu. 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 *ǵʰelh₃- / yolk

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