English word origin

Etymology of ker-

Now stands in for a thud. Originally Scots, possibly continuing Scottish Gaelic car (“somewhat”), cognate with Irish cor. Early uses were often collocated with went.

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 ↗

prefix

Used to form various onomatopoeias imitating the effect or sound of a heavy object falling.

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

Now stands in for a thud. Originally Scots, possibly continuing Scottish Gaelic car (“somewhat”), cognate with Irish cor. Early uses were often collocated with went.

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

Cognate mentioncargd
Cognate mentioncorga

Inspect preserved source fields

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

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "gd",
        "2": "car",
        "3": "",
        "4": "somewhat"
      },
      "expansion": "Scottish Gaelic car (“somewhat”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ga",
        "2": "cor"
      },
      "expansion": "Irish cor"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "thud",
      "thud"
    ],
    [
      "car",
      "car#Scottish_Gaelic"
    ],
    [
      "cor",
      "cor#Irish"
    ],
    [
      "collocate",
      "collocate"
    ],
    [
      "went",
      "went"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "prefix",
      "glosses": [
        "Used to form various onomatopoeias imitating the effect or sound of a heavy object falling."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "humorous",
        "morpheme",
        "often"
      ],
      "recordId": "92118904fe5ad6434ff1ddbdff32e0bf9cfc76f690f753601c7e89ba971ef0c7",
      "rawRecordSha256": "41b5f7d9eb1b673311dcf5a65b2633a97f15757fc8380afd2113cd009eb97610",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 1554785
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

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 ker- →

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-a2VyLQ