eke

Meanings

Noun

• An addition.
• A small stand on which a beehive is placed.
• A spacer put between or over or under hive parts to make more space: see

Verb

• Chiefly in the form eke out: to add to, to augment; to increase; to lengthen.

Adverb

• Also; in addition to.

Origin

• The noun is derived from Middle English eke, eche, from Old English ēaca, from Proto-Germanic *aukô, from *aukaną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg-. The English noun is cognate with Old Frisian āka, Old Norse auki.
• The verb is derived partly:
• from the noun; and
• from Middle English eken, from three distinct verbs (1) Old English ēcan, īcan, īeċan, ȳcan, (2) ēacan, and (3) ēacian, all from Proto-Germanic *aukaną; see further above.
• The English verb is cognate with Latin augeō, Old English ēac, Old Norse auka (Danish øge, Icelandic auka, Norwegian Bokmål øke, Norwegian Nynorsk auka, Swedish öka).
• From Middle English ek, eek, eke, from Old English ēac, ǣc, ēc, from Proto-Germanic *auk, then either:
• from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg-; or
• from Pre-Germanic *h₂ew + *gʰe
• The English word is cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐌺, Old Frisian âk, Old High German ouh (Middle High German ouch, modern German auch), Old Norse auk (Danish og, Swedish och, ock), Old Saxon ôk (Dutch ook), Saterland Frisian ook, uk, West Frisian ek.