## Etymology
Past tense of wake, from Old English wacan ('to awake') and wacian ('to be awake'). The adjectival sense 'alert to social injustice' arose in African American Vernacular English in the early 20th century and spread widely in the 2010s.

## AI Etymology
Woke is traced through past tense of wake, from Old English wacan ('to awake') and wacian ('to be awake'). The adjectival sense 'alert to social injustice' arose in African American Vernacular English in the early 20th century and spread widely in the 2010s. In current use it is an adjective and verb meaning "alert to social injustice and discrimination, or the past tense of wake". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The history is mainly one of transmission into English, with the older form and sense carried through borrowing or adaptation. The historical chain includes Old English wacan and Proto-Germanic *waknaną. Related English forms include wake, awake, and awaken. The semantic development is therefore important as well as the form: the word moves from the older concrete, technical, or literal setting into the present figurative or specialized sense.

## Topics
- Social Issues & Human Rights

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