mawk

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English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English mawk, mauk, a contraction of mathek, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old Norse maðkr (maggot), a diminutive of a base from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *maþô (worm) (Old English maþa), from Indo-European *math-, moth- used in reference to insects and vermin. Cognate with Danish madike, Swedish mask, archaic English maddock (modern maggot).

Pronunciation

Noun

mawk (plural mawks)

  1. (obsolete except in dialects) a maggot
  2. (UK, dialect, obsolete) a slattern