From Middle English nekke , nakke , from Old English hnecca , *hnæcca ( “ neck, nape ” ) , from Proto-Germanic *hnakkô ( “ nape, neck ” ) , from Proto-Indo-European *knog- , *kneg- ( “ back of the head, nape, neck ” ) . Cognate with Scots nek ( “ neck ” ) , North Frisian neek , neeke , Nak ( “ neck ” ) , Saterland Frisian Näkke ( “ neck ” ) , West Frisian nekke ( “ neck ” ) , Dutch nek ( “ neck ” ) , German Low German Nack ( “ neck ” ) , German Nacken ( “ nape of the neck ” ) , Danish nakke ( “ neck ” ) , Swedish nacke ( “ nape of the neck ” ) , Icelandic hnakki ( “ neck ” ) , Tocharian A kñuk ( “ neck, nape ” ) . Possibly a mutated variant of *kneug/k (compare Old English hnocc ( “ hook, penis ” ) , Welsh cnwch ( “ joint, knob ” ) , Latvian knaūķis ( “ dwarf ” ) . Doublet of nek . More at nook . Displaced halse ( “ neck, throat ” ) and swire ( “ neck ” ) .
A human neck.
neck (plural necks )
An Australasian Darter extends her long neck.
( anatomy ) The part of the body connecting the head and the trunk found in humans and some animals.
Giraffes have long neck s.
2019 October 15, ZA/UM , Robert Kurvitz , quoting You, Disco Elysium , →OCLC :Mother, help me, there's a head attached to my neck and I'm in it.
The corresponding part in some other anatomical contexts.
The part of a shirt , dress etc., which fits a person's neck .
The tapered part of a bottle toward the opening.
( botany ) The slender tubelike extension atop an archegonium , through which the sperm swim to reach the egg .
1992 , Rudolf M[ athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian , volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History , →ISBN , page 5:Archegonia are surrounded early in their development by the juvenile perianth, through the slender beak of which the elongated neck of the fertilized archegonium protrudes.
( music ) The extension of any stringed instrument on which a fingerboard is mounted
A long narrow tract of land projecting from the main body, or a narrow tract connecting two larger tracts.
( engineering ) A reduction in size near the end of an object, formed by a groove around it.
a neck forming the journal of a shaft
The constriction between the root and crown of a tooth .
( architecture ) The gorgerin of a capital .
( geology ) A volcanic plug , solidified lava filling the vent of an extinct volcano.
( firearms ) The small part of a gun between the chase and the swell of the muzzle .
( figurative ) A person's life .
to risk one's neck ; to save someone's neck
( informal , MLE , slang ) A falsehood ; a lie .
( slang ) Fellatio
2016 , “Pimptations”, performed by Smino:Shorty throw neck like a geese She make me speak Portuguese
2018 , “Florida Thang”, in The South Got Something To Say , performed by Pouya:She drop neck for a check and a paystub
( now historical ) A bundle of wheat used in certain English harvest ceremonies.
1837 , R. A. R. , The Everyday Book , page 1169 :The person with 'the neck' stands in the centre, grasping it with both his hands
1911 , James George Frazer, The Golden Bough , volume 7, page 266 :"The neck " is generally hung up in the farmhouse, where it remains for two or three years.
part of body connecting the head and the trunk
A-Pucikwar: loŋo
Abkhaz: ахәда ( axʷda )
Acehnese: takuë
Adyghe: пшъэ ( pŝɛ )
Afrikaans: nek (af) , hals
Ainu: レクッ ( rekut )
Aiton: please add this translation if you can
Akan: ɛkɔn
Aklanon: liog
Albanian: qafë (sq) f
Amharic: አንገት ( ʾängät )
Andi: гару ( garu )
Arabic: رَقَبَة f ( raqaba ) , عُنُق (ar) m ( ʕunuq )
Egyptian Arabic: رقبة f ( raʔaba )
Hijazi Arabic: رقبة f ( ragaba )
Juba Arabic: ragaabta
Moroccan Arabic: عنق m ( ʕunq )
South Levantine Arabic: رقبة f ( ráʔabe (Ramallah) , rágaba (Gaza) )
Armenian: վիզ (hy) ( viz ) , պարանոց (hy) ( paranocʻ )
Old Armenian: վիզ ( viz ) , պարանոց ( paranocʻ ) , ուլն ( uln ) , ճիտ ( čit ) , փող ( pʻoł )
Aromanian: gushi , gushã
Assamese: গল ( gol ) , ডিঙি ( diṅi )
Asturian: pescuezu (ast) m
Atikamekw: okowiw
Avar: габур ( gabur )
Aymara: kunka
Azerbaijani: boyun (az)
Bahnar: hơko , ako
Baluchi: گردن ( gardin, gardan )
Banjarese: gulu
Bashkir: муйын ( muyın )
Basque: sama (eu)
Bau Bidayuh: tunguo
Belarusian: шы́я f ( šýja )
Bengali: গলা (bn) ( gola ) , গর্দান (bn) ( gordan )
Bikol Central: liog (bcl)
Bolinao: liey
Breton: gouzoug (br)
Brunei Malay: lihir
Buginese: ellong
Bulgarian: ши́я (bg) f ( šíja ) , врат (bg) m ( vrat )
Burmese: လည်ပင်း (my) ( lanypang: )
Buryat: хүзүүн ( xüzüün )
Catalan: coll (ca) m
Cebuano: liog
Central Melanau: tengok
Chakma: please add this translation if you can
Chamicuro: c̈hano
Chechen: лаг ( lag )
Cherokee: ᎠᏴᏤᏂ ( ayvtseni )
Chichewa: khosi
Chinese:
Cantonese: 頸 / 颈 ( geng2 )
Eastern Min: 脰骨 ( dâiu-gáuk )
Gan: 頸 / 颈 ( jiang3 )
Hakka: 頸 / 颈 ( kiáng ) , 頸根 / 颈根 ( kiáng-kîn )
Hokkien: 頷 / 颔 (zh-min-nan) ( ām ) , 頷頸 / 颔颈 (zh-min-nan) ( ām-kún, ām-kńg ) , 頷仔頸 / 颔仔颈 ( ām-á-kún, ām-á-kńg ) , 頷頸仔 / 颔颈仔 ( ām-kún-á, ām-kńg-á ) , 頷胿 / 颔胿 (zh-min-nan) ( ām-kui ) , 頷頸胿 / 颔颈胿 ( ām-kún-kui, ām-kńg-kui ) , 脰項 / 脰项 ( tāu-hāng )
Jin: 脖子 ( bah5 zeh )
Mandarin: ( formal ) 頸 / 颈 (zh) ( jǐng ) , ( formal ) 頸項 / 颈项 (zh) ( jǐngxiàng ) , ( informal ) 脖子 (zh) ( bózi )
Northern Min: 脰 ( dĕ ) , 仲仲 ( dē̤ng-dē̤ng )
Wu: 頭頸 / 头颈 ( 6 deu-cin) , 頭頸骨 / 头颈骨 ( 6 deu-cin-kueq)
Xiang: 頸根 / 颈根 ( jin3 gen1 )
Chuvash: мăй ( măj )
Coptic: ⲛⲁϩⲃⲓ f ( nahbi ) , ϧⲁϧ m ( xax )
Cornish: konna
Czech: krk (cs) m , šíje (cs) f
Dalmatian: cual m , zoglo m
Danish: hals (da) c
Daur: xujuu
Dhivehi: ކަދުރާ ( kadurā )
Dongxiang: ghuzhun
Dupaningan Agta: leg
Dutch: hals (nl) m , nek (nl) m
Eastern Cham: ꨓꨰꨆꨶ ( takwai )
Egyptian: (nḥbt f ), ( human ) (ḫḫ f )
Erzya: кирьга ( kiŕga )
Esperanto: kolo (eo)
Estonian: kael (et) , kaelus
Even: никан ( ņikan )
Evenki: никимна ( ņikimna )
Finnish: kaula (fi)
French: cou (fr) m , nuque (fr) f ( nape of the neck )
Friulian: cuel
Galician: pescozo (gl) m , colo m
Georgian: კისერი (ka) ( ḳiseri )
German: Hals (de) m , ( back of the neck ) Nacken (de) m , ( back of the neck ) Genick (de) n
Gorontalo: bulo'o (gor)
Gothic: 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐍃 m ( hals )
Greek: λαιμός (el) m ( laimós )
Ancient: δέρη f ( dérē ) , τράχηλος m ( trákhēlos )
Greenlandic: qungaseq , tunusuk
Guaraní: ajúra (gn)
Gujarati: ગરદન (gu) ( gardan )
Haitian Creole: kou
Hausa: wuya
Hawaiian: ʻāʻī
Hebrew: צַוָּאר / צוואר (he) m ( tsavár )
Hidatsa: áaba
Higaonon: li-ug
Hindi: गर्दन (hi) f ( gardan ) , कंठ (hi) m ( kaṇṭh )
Hungarian: nyak (hu)
Icelandic: háls (is) m
Indonesian: leher (id)
Ingrian: kagla
Inuktitut: ᖁᖓᓯᖅ ( qongasiq )
Iranun: le'eg
Irish: muineál m
Italian: collo (it) m
Iu Mien: jaang
Japanese: 首 (ja) ( くび, kubi )
Javanese: gulu (jv)
Jeju: 목 ( mok )
Kabardian: пщэ (kbd) ( pśɛ )
Kabyle: iri
Kalmyk: күзүн ( küzün )
Kannada: ಕತ್ತು (kn) ( kattu )
Kashmiri: گَردَن ( gardan )
Kashubian: szëja
Kazakh: мойын ( moiyn )
Khamti: please add this translation if you can
Khasi: ryndang
Khmer: ក (km) ( kɑɑ )
Kikuyu: mbogo
Kimaragang: liou
Kituba: kingu
Klias River Kadazan: liyow
Koho: nko
Kolami: గర్దన్ ( gardan )
Komi-Permyak: голя ( goľa )
Kongo: kingu
Korean: 목 (ko) ( mok )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: مِل ( mil ) , ئەستۆ ( esto )
Laki: مِل (ku) ( mil )
Northern Kurdish: stû (ku)
Southern Kurdish: مِل (ku) ( mil )
Kyrgyz: моюн (ky) ( moyun )
Ladin: please add this translation if you can
Lak: ссурссу ( s:urs:u )
Lao: ຄໍ (lo) ( khǭ )
Latgalian: koklys m
Latin: collum n , cervīx (la) f
Latvian: kakls (lv) m
Lezgi: гардан ( gardan )
Ligurian: collo m
Lithuanian: kaklas (lt) m
Lombard: coll (lmo) m
Lotud: liou
Low German: Hals (nds) m
Luhya: likosi
Macedonian: врат m ( vrat ) , шија f ( šija )
Maguindanao: lig
Makasar: kellong
Malagasy: vozona (mg)
Malay: leher (ms)
Malayalam: കഴുത്ത് (ml) ( kaḻuttŭ )
Manchu: ᠮᠣᠩᡤᠣᠨ ( monggon )
Mandinka: kaŋo
Mansaka: liyug
Manx: mwannal
Maori: kakī
Maranao: lig
Marathi: मान (mr) ( mān )
Mari: шӱй ( šüj )
Maricopa: miipuk
Mauritian Creole: kou
Meriam: tabó
Moksha: кърга ( kərga )
Mon: ကံ (mnw)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: хүзүү (mn) ( xüzüü )
Mongolian: ᠬᠦᠵᠦᠭᠦᠦ ( küǰügüü )
Motu: aio
Muong: cố
Nahuatl: quechtli (nah)
Nanai: монгон ( moŋon )
Nauruan: teren (na)
Navajo: akʼos
Neapolitan: cuollo m
Newar: कथु ( kathu )
Nganasan: бакәз̌әә ( bakəžəə )
Ngarrindjeri: kuri
Nivkh: ӄʼос ( qʼos )
Norman: co m
Northern Khmer: please add this translation if you can
Northern Thai: please add this translation if you can
Norwegian:
Bokmål: hals (no) m
Nynorsk: hals m
Nuosu: ꆹ ( li ) , ꇵꆹ ( gup li )
Occitan: còl (oc)
Ojibwe: ( my neck ) nikwegan
Okinawan: くび ( kubi )
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: шиꙗ f ( šija ) , вꙑꙗ f ( vyja )
Roman: ⱎⰹⱑ f ( šiě )
Old East Slavic: шиꙗ f ( šija )
Old English: swēora m
Old French: col f
Old Javanese: gulu
Oromo: morma
Ossetian: хъуыр ( qwyr ) , ӕфцӕг ( æfcæg )
Ottoman Turkish: بویون ( boyun ) , گردن ( gerden ) , یال ( yâl )
Pangasinan: bekleo
Pashto: غاړه (ps) f ( ǧāṛa )
Pennsylvania German: Hals m
Persian:
Iranian Persian: گَرْدَن (fa) ( gardan ) , مُل (fa) ( mol ) ( dialectal ) , (please verify ) گَری (fa) ( gari )
Phake: please add this translation if you can
Piedmontese: col m
Polish: szyja (pl) f , kark (pl) m
Portuguese: pescoço (pt) m
Punjabi:
Gurmukhi: ਧੌਣ ( dhauṇ )
Quechua: kunka (qu)
Rapa Nui: gao
Rohingya: gola
Romagnol: còl m
Romani: korr
Romanian: gât (ro) n
Romansch: culiez , culöz
Rungus: lliow
Russian: ше́я (ru) f ( šéja ) , вы́я (ru) f ( výja ) ( obsolete )
Rwanda-Rundi: ijosi
S'gaw Karen: ကိာ် ( koḥ )
Sabah Bisaya: liou
Sami:
Inari: čeve
Northern: čeabet , čeabi , čeabát
Skolt: čeäppat
Southern: tjovrese
Samoan: ua (sm)
Sanskrit: ग्रीवा (sa) f ( grīvā )
Santali: ᱦᱚᱴᱚᱜᱽ
Sardinian: trucu
Scottish Gaelic: amhach f , ( person's ) muineal m
Sebop: batok
Sekapan: ngo'a
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: вра̑т m , ши̏ја f
Roman: vrȃt (sh) m , šȉja (sh) f
Shan: please add this translation if you can
Sherpa: མཇིང་པ ( mjing pa )
Shona: mutsipa
Sicilian: coddu (scn) m
Sinhalese: බෙල්ල (si) ( bella )
Slovak: krk (sk) m , šija f
Slovene: vrat (sl) m
Somali: qoor (so) , sur
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: šyja f
Upper Sorbian: šija f
Spanish: cuello (es) m , pescuezo (es) m
Sranan Tongo: neki
Sundanese: tengek
Swahili: shingo (sw)
Swedish: hals (sv) c
Tagal Murut: liog
Tagalog: ( literally ) leeg (tl) n
Tajik: гардан (tg) ( gardan )
Talysh:
Asalemi: گردن ( gardan )
Tambunan Dusun: liou
Tamil: கழுத்து (ta) ( kaḻuttu )
Taos: kʼə́onemą
Tarifit: iri m
Tatar: муйын ( muyın ) , муен (tt) ( muyen )
Tausug: liug
Telugu: మెడ (te) ( meḍa )
Tetum: kakorok
Thai: คอ (th) ( kɔɔ ) , ลำคอ ( lam-kɔɔ )
Tibetan: མཇིང་པ ( mjing pa )
Tigrinya: ክሳድ ( kəsad )
Timugon Murut: liog
Tongan: kia
Tulu: ಕೆಕ್ಕಿಲ್ ( kekkilŭ ) , ಕಂಟೆಲ್ ( kaṇṭelŭ )
Turkish: boyun (tr)
Turkmen: boýun (tk)
Tuvan: моюн ( moyun )
Ukrainian: ши́я f ( šýja )
Urdu: گَرْدَن f ( gardan ) , کَنْٹھ m ( kanṭh )
Uyghur: بويۇن ( boyun )
Uzbek: bo'yin (uz) , gardan (uz)
Venetian: còl (vec) m , coło m , col m
Veps: kagl
Vietnamese: cổ (vi)
Volapük: särvig (vo) , ( back of the neck ) nük (vo)
Waray-Waray: liog
Welsh: gwddf (cy) m
West Coast Bajau: kelong
West Frisian: nekke c
Winnebago: caaše
Wolof: baat (wo)
Xhosa: intamo
Yakan: kellong
Yakut: моой ( mooy )
Yiddish: האַלדז m ( haldz )
Yoruba: ọrùn
Zazaki: mêr , vıle (diq)
Zealandic: 'als m , nikke f
Zhuang: hoz
Zulu: intamo (zu) class 9 /10
corresponding part in some other anatomical contexts
part of a shirt, dress etc.
botany: slender tubelike extension atop an archegonium
extension of stringed instrument
long narrow tract of land projecting from the main body, or a narrow tract connecting two larger tracts
engineering: reduction in size near the end of an object
constriction between the root and crown of a tooth
architecture: gorgerin of a capital
firearms: part between the chase and the swell of the muzzle
figurative: person's life
Translations to be checked
neck (third-person singular simple present necks , present participle necking , simple past and past participle necked )
( transitive , slang ) To hang by the neck; strangle ; kill , eliminate.
Go neck yourself.
( intransitive , informal , chiefly US ) To make love ; to intently kiss or cuddle ; to canoodle .
Synonyms: French kiss , grope , pet , smoodge , snog , snuggle , smooch
Alan and Betty were necking in the back of a car when Betty's dad caught them.
1994 [1993 ], Irvine Welsh , Trainspotting , London: Minerva, →ISBN , page 326 :Molly had been in love with Sick Boy since he necked with her in a seedy disco-bar in Leith a few weeks ago. Sick Boy had made a drunken point about HIV transmission and to illustrate it had spent most of the night french-kissing her.
( transitive , slang ) To drink or swallow rapidly.
Synonym: chug
2005 , Stephen Price, Monkey Man , page 146 :Actually, mostly I swan around in my silver sports car, necking drugs, and feeling sorry for myself.
2006 , Sarah Johnstone, Tom Masters, London :In the dim light, punters sit sipping raspberry-flavoured Tokyo martinis, losing the freestyle sushi off their chopsticks or necking Asahi beer.
2019 January 26, Kitty Empire [pseudonym], “The Streets review – the agony and ecstasy of a great everyman”, in Katharine Viner , editor, The Guardian [1] , London: Guardian News & Media , →ISSN , →OCLC , archived from the original on 8 April 2019 :The 40-year-old [Mike Skinner ] is happy to put his body on the line in other ways, swapping a mug of tea for a fan's double pint of lager and messily necking it in one.
( intransitive ) To decrease in diameter.
2007 , John H. Bickford, Introduction to the Design and Behavior of Bolted Joints , page 272 :Since this temperature would place the bolt in its creep range, it will slowly stretch, necking down as it does so. Eventually it will get too thin to support the weight, and the bolt will break.
hang by the neck; strangle; kill
Dutch: nekken (nl) , wurgen (nl)
Finnish: hirttää (fi) ( to hang ) , kuristaa (fi) ( to strangle )
German: hängen (de) , erhängen (de) , würgen (de) , erwürgen (de)
Italian: strangolare (it) , appendere per il collo , impiccare (it)
Japanese: 縊る (ja) ( kubiru )
Portuguese: esganar (pt) , estrangular (pt) , enforcar (pt)
Romanian: strangula (ro) , sugruma (ro) , spânzura (ro)
make love
Czech: muckat se (cs) impf , cucat se impf , mazlit se impf , muchlovat se impf , muchlat se impf
Danish: elske (da)
Finnish: vehdata (fi) , kaulailla (fi) , lemmiskellä (fi)
German: knutschen (de) , sich (de) küssen (de) , sich lieben
Italian: pomiciare (it) , limonare (it) , slinguare (it) , fare l'amore (it)
Japanese: いちゃつく (ja) ( ichatsuku ) , 戯れる (ja) ( tawamureru )
Translations to be checked
From Danish nøkke , Swedish näck .
neck (plural necks )
( folklore ) A shapeshifting water spirit in Germanic mythology and folklore; a nix .
Synonyms: nis , nix , nixie , nixy
1828 , Thomas Keightley , The Fairy Mythology , volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 234 :The Neck no more upon the river sings. And no Mermaid to bleach her linen flings Upon the waves in the mild solar ray.
folklore: shapeshifting water spirit
— see nix
Borrowed from English neck .
neck m (plural necks )
( geology ) neck ( solidified lava filling the vent of an extinct volcano )
Unadapted borrowing from English neck .
neck m
( geology ) neck ( solidified lava filling the vent of an extinct volcano )