neck

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The part of the body that joins the head to the shoulders.

   Giraffes have very long necks.

2. 2
   noun

   The narrow part of a piece of clothing that goes around your neck.

   This sweater has a round neck.

3. 3
   noun

   A narrow part of an object that looks like a neck.

   He held the bottle by the neck.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

In Old English, neck was spelled hnecca and was a relatively rare word referring to the back of the neck. The broader idea expressed by modern neck was then conveyed by halse and swire, words that survive in Scottish and northern English dialects.

From Middle English nekke, nakke, from Old English hnecca, *hnæcca (“neck, nape”), from Proto-Germanic *hnakkô (“nape, neck”), from Proto-Indo-European *knog-, *kneg- (“back of the head, nape, neck”). Cognate with Scots nek (“neck”), North Frisian neek, neeke, Nak (“neck”), Saterland Frisian Näkke (“neck”), West Frisian nekke (“neck”), Dutch nek (“neck”), German Low German Nack (“neck”), German Nacken (“nape of the neck”), Danish nakke (“neck”), Swedish nacke (“nape of the neck”), Icelandic hnakki (“neck”), Tocharian A kñuk (“neck, nape”). Possibly a mutated variant of *kneug/k (compare Old En…

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary