*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of lark

From Middle English larke, laverke, from Old English lāwerce, lǣwerce, lāuricæ, from Proto-West Germanic *laiwaʀikā, from Proto-Germanic *laiwazikǭ (compare dialectal West Frisian larts, Dutch leeuwerik, German Lerche),

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 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.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

Any of various small, singing passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. · Any of various similar-appearing birds, but usually ground-living, such as the meadowlark and titlark. · One who wakes early; one who is up with the larks. · A jolly or peppy person.

verb

To catch larks (a type of bird).

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

From Middle English larke, laverke, from Old English lāwerce, lǣwerce, lāuricæ, from Proto-West Germanic *laiwaʀikā, from Proto-Germanic *laiwazikǭ (compare dialectal West Frisian larts, Dutch leeuwerik, German Lerche), from *laiwaz (borrowed into Finnish leivo, Estonian lõo), of unknown ultimate origin with no definitive cognates outside of Germanic.

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

Inspect preserved source fields

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

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "larke"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English larke"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "lāwerce"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English lāwerce"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*laiwaʀikā"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *laiwaʀikā"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*laiwazikǭ"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *laiwazikǭ"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "larts"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian larts"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "leeuwerik"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch leeuwerik"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Lerche"
      },
      "expansion": "German Lerche"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fi",
        "2": "leivo"
      },
      "expansion": "Finnish leivo"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "et",
        "2": "lõo"
      },
      "expansion": "Estonian lõo"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "larke",
      "larke#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "laverke",
      "laverke#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "lāwerce",
      "lawerce#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "lǣwerce",
      "læwerce#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "lāuricæ",
      "lauricæ#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*laiwaʀikā",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/laiwaʀikā"
    ],
    [
      "*laiwazikǭ",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/laiwazikǭ"
    ],
    [
      "larts",
      "larts#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "leeuwerik",
      "leeuwerik#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "Lerche",
      "Lerche#German"
    ],
    [
      "*laiwaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/laiwaz"
    ],
    [
      "leivo",
      "leivo#Finnish"
    ],
    [
      "lõo",
      "lõo#Estonian"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
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      "glosses": [
        "Any of various small, singing passerine birds of the family Alaudidae.",
        "Any of various similar-appearing birds, but usually ground-living, such as the meadowlark and titlark.",
        "One who wakes early; one who is up with the larks.",
        "A jolly or peppy person."
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        "intransitive"
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Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
verb

To sport, engage in harmless pranking. · To frolic, engage in carefree adventure.

noun

A frolic or romp, some fun. · A prank.

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

Uncertain, either * from a northern English dialectal term lake /laik (“to play”) (around 1300, from Old Norse leika (“to play (as opposed to work)”)), with an intrusive -r- as is common in southern British dialects; or * a shortening of skylark (1809), sailors' slang, "play roughly in the rigging of a ship", because the common European larks were proverbial for high-flying; Dutch has a similar idea in speelvogel (“playbird, a person of markedly playful nature”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

  • Unspecified derivation mentionleikanon
Inspect preserved source fields

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

{
  "templates": [
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      "name": "unc",
      "args": {
        "1": "en"
      },
      "expansion": "Uncertain"
    },
    {
      "name": "uder",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "non",
        "3": "leika",
        "4": "",
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      },
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    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "lake",
      "lake#English"
    ],
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      "laik",
      "laik#English"
    ],
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      "leika",
      "leika#Old_Norse"
    ],
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      "skylark",
      "skylark#English"
    ],
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      "speelvogel#Dutch"
    ]
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        "To sport, engage in harmless pranking.",
        "To frolic, engage in carefree adventure."
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        "A prank."
      ],
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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 lark →

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-bGFyaw