mawk

English

Etymology

From Middle English mawke, moke, a contraction of mathek, maddok, from Old Norse maðkr (“maggot”), a diminutive of a base from Proto-Germanic *maþô (“worm”) (compare Old English maþa), from Proto-Indo-European *mat-, *mot- used in reference to insects and vermin. Cognate with Danish maddike, Swedish mask, archaic English maddock (modern maggot).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɔːk/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːk

Noun

mawk (plural mawks)

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

Derived terms

• mawkish
• mawky
• molly-mawk

Further reading

• [Francis Grose] (1788) “Mawkes”, in A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 2nd edition, London: […] S. Hooper, […], →OCLC.