Unnumbered source etymology · variant 1/2
Original entry ↗Something that happens to someone by chance, a chance occurrence. · A favourable chance occurrence. · A superstitious feeling that brings fortune or success. · Success.
From Middle English luk, lukke, from Middle Dutch luc, geluc, gelucke (“good luck, fortune”) or Middle Low German lücke, gelücke (“lot, fortune, fate, luck”), of obscure origin; perhaps ultimately related to German Lücke (“gap, opening”) in the sense of "space or opportunity", hence "chance". Cognate with West Frisian gelok (“luck”), Saterland Frisian Gluk (“luck”), Dutch luk, geluk (“luck, happiness”), Dutch Low Saxon luk (“luck”), German Low German and German Glück (“luck, good fortune, happiness”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål lykke (“luck, happiness”), Norwegian Nynorsk lukke (“luck, happiness”), Swedish lycka (“luck, happiness”), Icelandic lukka (“happiness”). According to the OED, it may be related to lock. A loanword into English in the 15th century (probably as a gambling term), Middle Dutch luc, gelucke has parallels with Middle High German lücke, gelücke ("luck, skill, chance, profession, livelihood"; whence Modern German Glück). The word occurs only from the 12th century, apparently first in Rhine Frankish. Perhaps from a Frankish *galukki, derived from Proto-Germanic *lukjǭ (“opening”). The word enters standard Middle High German during the 13th century, and spreads to English and Scandinavian in the Late Middle Ages. Its origin seems to have been regional or dialectal, and there were competing German words such as gevelle or schick, or the Latinate fortūne from Latin fortūna. Its etymology is unknown, although there are numerous proposals as to its derivations from a number of roots. Use as a verb in American English is late (1940s), but there was a Middle English verb lukken (“to chance, to happen by good fortune”) in the 15th century.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionlukenm
- Derivation mentionlucdum
- Derivation mentionlückegml
- Cognate mentionLückede · gap, opening
- Cognate mentiongelokfy · luck
- Cognate mentionGlukstq · luck
- Cognate mentionluknl
- Cognate mentionGlückde · luck, good fortune, happiness
- Cognate mentionlukkenn
- Cognate mentionlyckasv
- Cognate mentionlukkais
- Cognate mentionlucdum
- Cognate mentionlückegmh
- Cognate mentionGlückde
- Derivation mention*lukjǭgem-pro · opening
This page abbreviates 1 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
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"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "luk"
},
"expansion": "Middle English luk"
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{
"name": "der",
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"2": "dum",
"3": "luc"
},
"expansion": "Middle Dutch luc"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gml",
"3": "lücke"
},
"expansion": "Middle Low German lücke"
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"title": "obscure"
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{
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"1": "de",
"2": "Lücke",
"t": "gap, opening"
},
"expansion": "German Lücke (“gap, opening”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fy",
"2": "gelok",
"t": "luck"
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"expansion": "West Frisian gelok (“luck”)"
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{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "stq",
"2": "Gluk",
"t": "luck"
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},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
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"2": "luk"
},
"expansion": "Dutch luk"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nds-nl",
"2": "luk",
"t": "luck"
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"expansion": "Dutch Low Saxon luk (“luck”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nds-de",
"2": "-"
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"expansion": "German Low German"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Glück",
"t": "luck, good fortune, happiness"
},
"expansion": "German Glück (“luck, good fortune, happiness”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "da,nb",
"2": "lykke",
"3": "",
"4": "luck, happiness"
},
"expansion": "Danish and Norwegian Bokmål lykke (“luck, happiness”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nn",
"2": "lukke",
"3": "",
"4": "luck, happiness"
},
"expansion": "Norwegian Nynorsk lukke (“luck, happiness”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "lycka",
"3": "",
"4": "luck, happiness"
},
"expansion": "Swedish lycka (“luck, happiness”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "is",
"2": "lukka",
"3": "",
"4": "happiness"
},
"expansion": "Icelandic lukka (“happiness”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "dum",
"2": "luc"
},
"expansion": "Middle Dutch luc"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "gmh",
"2": "lücke"
},
"expansion": "Middle High German lücke"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Glück"
},
"expansion": "German Glück"
},
{
"name": "gl",
"args": {
"1": "\"luck, skill, chance, profession, livelihood\"; whence Modern German <i class=\"Latn mention\" lang=\"de\">Glück</i>"
},
"expansion": "(\"luck, skill, chance, profession, livelihood\"; whence Modern German Glück)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "frk",
"3": "*galukki"
},
"expansion": "Frankish *galukki"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*lukjǭ",
"t": "opening"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *lukjǭ (“opening”)"
}
],
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"luk#Middle_English"
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[
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[
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[
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[
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[
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[
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[
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[
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[
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[
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[
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"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/lukjǭ"
],
[
"gevelle",
"gevelle#Middle_High_German"
],
[
"schick",
"schick#Middle_High_German"
],
[
"fortūne",
"fortune#Middle_High_German"
],
[
"fortūna",
"fortuna#Latin"
],
[
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"lukken#Middle_English"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "Welsh",
"lang_code": "cy",
"word": "lwc",
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}
],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"Something that happens to someone by chance, a chance occurrence.",
"A favourable chance occurrence.",
"A superstitious feeling that brings fortune or success.",
"Success."
],
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