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Origin and history of chunk

chunk(n.)

"short, thick piece" of something, 1690s, probably a nasalized variant of chuck (n.1) "cut of meat;" meaning "large amount" is 1883, American English. Meaning "person or beast that is small but thick-set and strong" is from 1822.

chunk(v.)

"to throw," 1835, American English, from chunk (n.) or by similar mutation from chuck (v.1). Related: Chunked; chunking.

also from 1835

Entries linking to chunk

chuck(n.1)

"piece of wood," 1670s; "piece of meat," 1723; probably a variant of chock (n.) "block." "Chock and chuck appear to have been originally variants of the same word, which are now somewhat differentiated" [OED].

Chock and Chuck, Are low terms, very frequently used before full,—as the coach was chock full of passengers. The house was chuck full. [Daniel Powers, "A Grammar on an Entirely New System," West Brookfield, 1845]

Specifically of shoulder meat from early 18c. (the exact cut varies from place to place). Meaning "device for holding work in a lathe or other machine" is from 1703 (also chock). American English chuck wagon (1880) is from a mid-19c. meaning "food, grub," generalized from the meat sense.

chump(n.)

1703, "short, thick lump of wood," of uncertain origin, perhaps a variant of chunk (n.) or a nasalized variant of chub (compare chuck/chunk and Old Norse kumbr for kubbr "block of wood"). Meaning "blockhead" is first attested 1883. Chump change attested by 1950.

chunky(adj.)

"thickset, disproportionately stout," 1751, from chunk (n.) + -y (2). Originally U.S. colloquial. Related: Chunkiness.

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    Trends of chunk

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    ball
    "round object, compact spherical body," also "a ball used in a game," c. 1200, probably from an unrecorded Old English *beal, *beall (evidenced by the diminutive bealluc "testicle"), or from cognate Old Norse bollr "ball," from Proto-Germanic *balluz (source also of Dutch bal, Fl
    clod
    "lump of earth or clay," Old English clod- (in clodhamer "the fieldfare," a kind of thrush), from Proto-Germanic *kludda-, from PIE *gleu- (see clay). Synonymous with collateral clot until the meanings differentiated 18c. Meaning "person" ("mere lump of earth") is from 1590s; tha
    lump
    early 14c., lumpe, "small mass of material, solid but of irregular shape" (1224 as surname), etymology and original sense unknown. Perhaps it was in Old English, but it is not recorded there. Perhaps from a Scandinavian or continental source: Compare Danish lumpe "block, stump, l
    bat
    A Middle English sense of "a lump, piece, chunk" (mid-14c.) was used in reference to bread, clay, wool, and survives in brickbat...
    bog
    "wet, soft, spongy ground with soil chiefly composed of decaying vegetable matter," c. 1500, from Gaelic and Irish bogach "bog," from adjective bog "soft, moist," from Proto-Celtic *buggo- "flexible" (from PIE root *bheug- "to bend"). A bog is characterized by vegetation, decaye
    compile
    "to collect and present information from authentic sources, to make or form by putting together in some order written or printed material from various sources," early 14c., from Old French compiler "compile, collect" (13c.) and directly from a Medieval Latin special use of Latin
    hoard
    Old English hord "a treasure, valuable stock or store, an accumulation of something for preservation or future use," hence "any mass of things preserved by being deposited together," from Proto-Germanic *huzdam (source also of Old Saxon hord "treasure, hidden or inmost place," Ol
    cold
    Old English cald (Anglian), ceald (West Saxon) "producing strongly the sensation which results when the temperature of the skin is lowered," also "having a low temperature," from Proto-Germanic *kaldjon (source also of Old Frisian and Old Saxon kald, Old High German and German ka
    agglomeration
    1774, "action of collecting in a mass," from Latin agglomerationem (nominative agglomeratio), noun of action from past-participle stem of agglomerare "to wind or add onto a ball," from ad "to" (see ad-) + glomerare "wind up in a ball," from glomus (genitive glomeris) "ball, ball
    clew
    "ball of thread or yarn," northern English and Scottish relic of Old English cliewen "sphere, ball, skein, ball of thread or yarn," probably from West Germanic *kleuwin (source also of Old Saxon cleuwin, Dutch kluwen), from Proto-Germanic *kliwjo-, perhaps from a PIE *gleu- "gath

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