Tock
/tɒk/; /tɑːk/noun
The sound made by a clock or similar mechanism, especially as the counterpart to “tick.”
Did you know?“Tock” is an imitative word: rather than descending from an ancient root with a hidden occult meaning, it was shaped to echo the deep, blunt sound of a mechanical clock.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic and early Germanic sound symbolism
Germanic
*tik- / *tuk-
“Reconstructed sound-symbolic patterns associated with short, sharp tapping or striking noises; these forms are suggestive rather than a single certain ancestor of modern “tock.””
Middle English
Middle English
tikken
“A verb meaning to make a light tapping sound; related forms helped establish the English family of imitative clock sounds.”
16th Century
English
tick
“An imitative word for a small, sharp sound, later strongly associated with a clock’s movement.”
18th–19th Century
English
tock
“A sound-word modeled as the deeper or contrasting half of “tick-tock,” representing a heavier clock beat.”
Modern English
English
tock
“The characteristic second sound in “tick-tock,” and more generally a short, dull tapping or striking noise.”