English word origin

Etymology of cusk

Early 17th century; of unknown origin. Probably an alteration of torsk or tusk, a codlike fish, from Norwegian tosk, torsk; Old Norse thorskr, codfish.

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗

noun

A codlike saltwater fish in the family Lotidae, Brosme brosme.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Early 17th century; of unknown origin. Probably an alteration of torsk or tusk, a codlike fish, from Norwegian tosk, torsk; Old Norse thorskr, codfish.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Non-cognate comparisontoskno
Non-cognate comparisonthorskrnon

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "unk",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "nocap": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "unknown"
    },
    {
      "name": "ncog",
      "args": {
        "1": "no",
        "2": "tosk"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian tosk"
    },
    {
      "name": "ncog",
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "thorskr"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse thorskr"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "torsk",
      "torsk#English"
    ],
    [
      "tusk",
      "tusk#English"
    ],
    [
      "tosk",
      "tosk#Norwegian"
    ],
    [
      "torsk",
      "torsk#Norwegian"
    ],
    [
      "thorskr",
      "thorskr#Old_Norse"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A codlike saltwater fish in the family Lotidae, Brosme brosme."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "5ca13e264f65029df90884aa8e7a4f6079469d62346d294b7a8820d1dba71ef5",
      "rawRecordSha256": "cb2d7dc5f723a7ded33162dc878d26b30f79e38ebdb5e88bb0be66d540c094e8",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 1556402
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
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  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for cusk →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-Y3Vzaw