English word origin

Etymology of spelk

From Middle English spelke, from Old English spilc, spelc (“a splint”), from Proto-West Germanic *spelku, from Proto-Germanic *spelkō, *spalkō, *spalkuz (“bast, splint”). Cognate with Old Norse spjalkir (“bars, rails”, p

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

A splinter, usually of wood. · A wooden splinter caught under the skin. · A rod or switch. · Unusably short lengths of fibre-reinforced material, such as prepreg.

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

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

Inherited-form mentionspelkeenm
Inherited-form mentionspilcang
Inherited-form mention*spelkugmw-pro
Inherited-form mention*spelkōgem-pro
Cognate mentionspjalkirnon · bars, rails

Inspect preserved source fields

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

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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "spelke"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English spelke"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "spilc"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English spilc"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*spelku"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *spelku"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
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        "2": "gem-pro",
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      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *spelkō"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "spjalkir",
        "t": "bars, rails",
        "pos": "plural"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse spjalkir (“bars, rails”, plural)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "spelke",
      "spelke#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "spilc",
      "spilc#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "spelc",
      "spelc#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*spelku",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/spelku"
    ],
    [
      "*spelkō",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/spelkō"
    ],
    [
      "*spalkō",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/spalkō"
    ],
    [
      "*spalkuz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/spalkuz"
    ],
    [
      "spjalkir",
      "spjalkir#Old_Norse"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A splinter, usually of wood.",
        "A wooden splinter caught under the skin.",
        "A rod or switch.",
        "Unusably short lengths of fibre-reinforced material, such as prepreg."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Cumbria",
        "Northumbria",
        "Northern-English"
      ],
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Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗

verb

To use a spelk in or on.

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

From Middle English spelken, from Old English spelċan, from Proto-West Germanic *spalkijan, from Proto-Germanic *spalkijaną. Cognate with Old Norse spelkja.

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

Inherited-form mentionspelkenenm
Inherited-form mentionspelċanang
Inherited-form mention*spalkijangmw-pro
Inherited-form mention*spalkijanągem-pro
Cognate mentionspelkjanon

Inspect preserved source fields

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

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    },
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      "name": "sup",
      "args": {
        "1": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "¹"
    },
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      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "spelkja"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse spelkja"
    }
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      "spelcan#Old_English"
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    ],
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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 spelk →

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-c3BlbGs