mawk

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English

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Etymology

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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

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Noun

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mawk (plural mawks)

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

Derived terms

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Further reading

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