beak

B2 Topic:Animals

US /ˈbiːk/ UK /biːk/ See IPA manual

Freq #12610

Meanings

1

noun
The hard, pointed mouth of a bird.

The bird carried a worm in its beak.
2

noun
The hard mouth of some other animals, such as turtles or squid.

A squid uses its sharp beak to break apart its food.
3

noun
A person's nose, especially a large or pointed one.

He looked down his long beak at the menu.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

3 noun · a person's nose, especially... honker

Word family

Forms beaks

Derived forms beak-ironbeakfishbeakfulbeakheadbeakishbeaklessbeaklikebeakloadbeaktipbeakybokocrossbeak

Etymology

From Middle English bec, borrowed from Anglo-Norman bec, Old French bec, from Latin beccus, from Gaulish *bekkos, from Proto-Celtic *bekkos (“beak, snout”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bak-, *baḱ- (“pointed stick, peg”). Cognate with Breton beg (“beak”). Compare Saterland Frisian Bäk (“mouth; muzzle; beak”); Dutch bek (“beak; bill; neb”).

bec Middle English beccus Latin *bekkos cel-gau *bak- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Animals

External links

# beak

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈbiːk/
**IPA (UK):** /biːk/
**Frequency rank:** 12610

## Meanings
1. The hard, pointed mouth of a bird.
2. The hard mouth of some other animals, such as turtles or squid.
3. A person's nose, especially a large or pointed one.

## Examples
- The bird carried a worm in its beak.
- A squid uses its sharp beak to break apart its food.
- He looked down his long beak at the menu.

## Derived Forms
- beak-iron
- beakfish
- beakful
- beakhead
- beakish
- beakless
- beaklike
- beakload
- beaktip
- beaky
- boko
- crossbeak

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: bec
- Root: beccus
- Root: *bekkos
- Root: *bak-

## Etymology
From Middle English bec, borrowed from Anglo-Norman bec, Old French bec, from Latin beccus, from Gaulish *bekkos, from Proto-Celtic *bekkos (“beak, snout”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bak-, *baḱ- (“pointed stick, peg”). Cognate with Breton beg (“beak”). Compare Saterland Frisian Bäk (“mouth; muzzle; beak”); Dutch bek (“beak; bill; neb”).

## AI Etymology
Beak comes from Middle English bec, borrowed from Anglo-Norman bec, Old French bec, from Latin beccus, from Gaulish *bekkos, from Proto-Celtic *bekkos (“beak, snout”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bak-, *baḱ- (“pointed stick, peg”). Cognate with Breton beg (“beak”). Compare Saterland Frisian Bäk (“mouth; muzzle; beak”); Dutch bek (“beak; bill; neb”).

## Topics
- Animals

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