Sink
/sɪŋk/noun
To go down below the surface or to a lower level.
Did you know?The English word traces back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning “to sink,” and its distant relatives include words for falling and submerged motion across Germanic languages.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sengʷʰ-
“To sink, submerge, or cause to go down”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*sinkaną
“To sink, descend, or submerge”
Old English
English
sincan
“To sink, perish, or be overwhelmed by water”
Middle English
English
sinken
“To go down, subside, or be swallowed by liquid”
Modern English
English
sink
“To descend below the surface or to a lower level”
Explore more surprising origins