earthquake (English)
Where does "earthquake" come from?
The English noun 'earthquake' descends directly from Middle English 'erthequake'[1], which was formed as a compound of 'erthe', meaning 'earth', and 'quaken', meaning 'to shake'[2]. The first component traces back to Old English 'eorþe'[4][5], Proto-Germanic '*erþō'[5][7], and ultimately the Proto-Indo-European root '*h₁érteh₂'[7]. The second element comes from Old English 'cwacian', meaning 'to quake, tremble, or chatter'[3], which developed from Proto-West Germanic '*kwakōn'[3][9] and Proto-Germanic '*kwakōną'[3][6][9]. Together, they created a vivid Germanic compound describing the literal shaking of the ground.
Open questions
- The ultimate origin of the Proto-Germanic verbal root '*kwakōną' is uncertain, though it is considered likely to be onomatopoeic. [6] [10]
Full etymology tree
- earthquake (English), 'A shaking of the ground, caused by volcanic activity or movement around geologic faults.'
- inherited erthequake (Middle English), 'An earthquake (shaking of the ground)'
- compound erthe (Middle English), 'Earth; the world'
- inherited eorþe (Old English), 'ground'
- inherited *erþu (Proto-West Germanic), 'earth, world'
- inherited *erþō (Proto-Germanic), 'earth'
- inherited *h₁érteh₂ (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *erþō (Proto-Germanic), 'earth'
- inherited *erþu (Proto-West Germanic), 'earth, world'
- inherited eorþe (Old English), 'ground'
- compound quaken (Middle English), 'To be scared (as if trembling)'
- inherited cwacian (Old English), 'to quake'
- inherited *kwakōn (Proto-West Germanic), 'quack'
- inherited *kwakōną (Proto-Germanic), 'to quack'
- inherited *kwakōn (Proto-West Germanic), 'quack'
- inherited cwacian (Old English), 'to quake'
- compound erthe (Middle English), 'Earth; the world'
- inherited erthequake (Middle English), 'An earthquake (shaking of the ground)'
Ancestors
- *h₁er- (Proto-Indo-European)
- erthequake (Middle English)
Descendants and derived words
- antiearthquake (English)
- birthquake (English)
- earthquake baroque (English)
- earthquake bomb (English)
- earthquake dam (English)
- earthquake drill (English)
- earthquake engineering (English)
- earthquakelike (English)
- earthquakeproof (English)
- earthquake protector (English)
- earthquake storm (English)
- earthquaky (English)
Sources
- earthquake (English) - Wiktionary
- erthequake (Middle English) - Wiktionary
- quaken (Middle English) - Wiktionary
- erthe (Middle English) - Wiktionary
- eorþe (Old English) - Wiktionary
- cwacian (Old English) - Wiktionary
- erþō (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
- erþu (Proto-West Germanic) - Wiktionary
- kwakōn (Proto-West Germanic) - Wiktionary
- kwakōną (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
Updated September 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris