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Origin and history of whelk

whelk(n.)

edible marine snail with a spiral shell, Old English weoloc, wioloc, from Proto-Germanic *weluka- (source also of Middle Dutch willoc, Dutch wulk), which is of uncertain origin, perhaps (Watkins) from PIE root *wel- (3) "to turn, revolve;" compare volute). The unetymological spelling with wh- dates from 15c.

Entries linking to whelk

volute(n.)

1690s, "spiral ornament on an Ionic capital" and figuring in others, from French volute (16c.), from Italian voluta, from Latin voluta "a spiral scroll," noun use of fem. past participle of volvere "to turn around, roll" (from PIE root *wel- (3) "to turn, revolve"). Extended by 1756 to any spiral thing or part. As a type of spiral seashell, it is attested from 1753.

*wel-(3)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to turn, revolve," with derivatives referring to curved, enclosing objects.

It might form all or part of: archivolt; circumvolve; convoluted; convolution; devolve; elytra; evolution; evolve; Helicon; helicopter; helix; helminth; lorimer; ileus; involve; revolt; revolution; revolve; valve; vault (v.1) "jump or leap over;" vault (n.1) "arched roof or ceiling;" volte-face; voluble; volume; voluminous; volute; volvox; volvulus; vulva; wale; walk; wallet; wallow; waltz; well (v.) "to spring, rise, gush;" welter; whelk; willow.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit valate "turns round," ulvam "womb, vulva;" Lithuanian valtis "twine, net," vilnis "wave," apvalus "round;" Old Church Slavonic valiti "roll, welter," vlŭna "wave;" Greek eluein "to roll round, wind, enwrap," eilein "twist, turn, squeeze; revolve, rotate," helix "spiral object;" Latin volvere "to turn, twist;" Gothic walwjan "to roll;" Old English wealwian "roll," weoloc "whelk, spiral-shelled mollusk;" Old High German walzan "to roll, waltz;" Old Irish fulumain "rolling;" Welsh olwyn "wheel."

wh-

consonant cluster, a respelling of Old English hw-, Northumbrian hu- attested from 11c., widespread in some places by 14c., but not the common form overall until after c. 1400. The cluster represents PIE *kw-; in German reduced to simple w-, in Scandinavian as hv-, kv-, or v-.

It also was added unetymologically to some borrowed words (whisk, whiskey) and some native words formerly spelled with simple w- or h- (whole, whore). In the 15c. flowering of its use it also threatened to change the spelling of hot, home and many more.

Proper pronunciation in modern educated English speech has been much in dispute. In Middle English also vh-, qv-, qwh-, hu-; in northern English 16c.-18c., sometimes altered to quh- (see Q) which perhaps indicated a guttural enunciation, as also perhaps in earlier Northumbrian use of ch- in the pronouns.

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    Trends of whelk

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

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    snail
    common name for a small gastropod on land or in fresh water, Middle English snail, from Old English snægl, from Proto-Germanic *snagila (source also of Old Saxon snegil, Old Norse snigill, Danish snegl, Swedish snigel, Middle High German snegel, dialectal German Schnegel, Old Hig
    article
    c. 1200, "separate parts of anything written" (such as the statements in the Apostles' Creed, the clauses of a statute or contract), from Old French article (13c.), from Latin articulus "a part, a member," also "a knuckle; the article in grammar," diminutive of artus "a joint" (f
    calendar
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    lord
    mid-13c., laverd, loverd, from Old English hlaford "master of a household, ruler, feudal lord, superior; husband," also "God," translating Latin dominus, Greek kyrios in the New Testament, Hebrew yahweh in the Old (though Old English dryhten was more frequent). Old English hlafor
    arcane
    "hidden, secret," 1540s, from Latin arcanus "secret, hidden, private, concealed," from arcere "to close up, enclose, contain," from arca "chest, box, place for safe-keeping," from PIE root *ark- "to hold, contain, guard" (source also of Greek arkos "defense," arkein "to ward off;
    chauvinism
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    confess
    late 14c., transitive and intransitive, "make avowal or admission of" (a fault, crime, sin, debt, etc.), from Old French confesser (transitive and intransitive), from Vulgar Latin *confessare, a frequentative form from Latin confess-, past participle stem of confiteri "to acknowl
    tuxedo
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    Prussia
    region in northeastern Germany, late 14c., Prusse (late 13c. as a surname), from Medieval Latin Borussi, Prusi, Latinized forms of the native name of the Lithuanian people who lived in the bend of the Baltic before being conquered 12c. and exterminated by (mostly) German crusader
    bathroom
    also bath-room, 1780, from bath + room (n.). Originally a room with apparatus for bathing (the only definition in "Century Dictionary," 1902); it came to be used 20c. in U.S. as a euphemism for a lavatory and often is noted as a word that confuses British travelers. To go to the

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