Husky
/ˈhʌs.ki/noun
Describing a strong, robust person or a deep, rough voice, and also referring to a sled dog of northern origin.
Did you know?The dog sense emerged in the nineteenth century as “husky” or “huskie,” a shortened form of “Huskimo,” an older English form connected with “Eskimo.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ḱews-
“To cover or conceal; a proposed ancestral root connected with the Germanic word for house.”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*hūsą
“House or dwelling.”
Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch
huusken
“Little house; later applied metaphorically to the outer covering of a seed or grain.”
14th Century
Middle English
huske
“Husk or dry outer covering of a plant.”
17th–18th Century
English
husky
“Made of, resembling, or associated with a husk; later, robust or strongly built.”
19th Century
English
husky
“A northern sled dog, shortened from older forms such as “Huskimo,” associated with Eskimo dogs.”