Uncertain; presumably cognate with Proto-Slavic*mъrky(“carrot”), suggesting Proto-Indo-European*mérkuh₂ ~ *mr̥kwéh₂;[1] however, perhaps instead an indigenous European Wanderwort.[2][3] A connection to Ancient Greekβράκανα(brákana, “wild vegetables”), βάκανον(bákanon, “cabbage(-seed)”) has been argued but has been disputed; otherwise thought to be of Pre-Greek origin, though given the word's likely Wanderwort status, a connection can still be maintained.[4]
^ Mallory, J. P. with Adams, D. Q. (2006), The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World (Oxford Linguistics), New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 167: “*mr̥k- ‘± carrot’”
