aardvark (English)

Where does "aardvark" come from?

The English word 'aardvark' was borrowed from Afrikaans 'aardvark' and 'erdvark'[1]. This Afrikaans compound combines 'aarde', meaning 'earth', with 'vark', meaning 'pig'[1]. Early European colonists in South Africa created the name because the animal resembles a pig and burrows into the earth[1]. These elements trace through Dutch and Middle Dutch back to Proto-Germanic forms meaning 'earth' and a diminutive of 'pig'[3][4][5][6]. Ultimately, these roots connect to Proto-Indo-European terms associated with earth and digging[8][10][11].

Open questions

• The exact mechanism of the back formation of vark from varken in Afrikaans is uncertain, being attributed either to reinterpreting the singular as a plural or to rebracketing plural varkens. [4]

Full etymology tree

• aardvark (English), 'The nocturnal, insectivorous, burrowing, mammal Orycteropus afer, of the order Tubulidentata, somewhat resembling a pig, common in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa.'
  • borrowed erdvark (Afrikaans), 'aardvark'
  • borrowed aardvark (Afrikaans), 'alternative form of erdvark'
    • derived aardvarken (Dutch), 'aardvark (Orycteropus afer)'
      • compound aarde (Dutch), 'earth, soil, ground'
        • inherited aerde (Middle Dutch), 'alternative form of erde'
          • inherited ertha (Old Dutch), 'earth'
            • inherited *erþu (Proto-West Germanic), 'earth, world'
              • inherited *erþō (Proto-Germanic), 'earth'
                • inherited *h₁érteh₂ (Proto-Indo-European)
      • compound varken (Dutch), 'pig (Sus scrofa domesticus)'
        • inherited varken (Middle Dutch)
          • inherited farkīn (Old Dutch)
            • inherited *farhaz (Proto-Germanic), 'pig, piglet'
              • inherited *pórḱos (Proto-Indo-European), 'piglet'

Ancestors

• *h₁er- (Proto-Indo-European)
• aardvark (Afrikaans)
• aerde (Middle Dutch)
• aarde (Afrikaans)
• vark (Afrikaans)

Descendants and derived words

• aardvark cucumber (English)
• aardvarking (English)
• aardvarklike (English)
• Brazilian aardvark (English)

Sources

1. aardvark (English) - Wiktionary
2. aardvark (Afrikaans) - Wiktionary
3. aarde (Afrikaans) - Wiktionary
4. vark (Afrikaans) - Wiktionary
5. aarde (Dutch) - Wiktionary
6. varken (Dutch) - Wiktionary
7. aardvarken (Dutch) - Wiktionary
8. erþō (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
9. ertha (Old Dutch) - Wiktionary
10. farhaz (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
11. pórḱos (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
12. farh (Proto-West Germanic) - Wiktionary
13. erþu (Proto-West Germanic) - Wiktionary
14. erdvark (Afrikaans) - Wiktionary

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris