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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

English

ask

/ɑːsk/
To request (information, or an answer to a question).

    Etymology graph

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    • derived
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    • meaning component
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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    From Middle English asken, axen, from Old English āscian, from Proto-West Germanic *aiskōn, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eys- (“to wish; request”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian aaskje (“to ask, demand, require”), West Frisian easkje (“to ask, demand, require”), Dutch eisen (“to demand, require”), German heischen (“to ask, request, implore”), Russian иска́ть (iskátʹ), Sanskrit इच्छति (iccháti) (whence Hindi ईछना (īchnā).

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English aske, arske, ascre, from Old English āþexe (“lizard, newt”), from Proto-West Germanic *agiþahsijā (“lizard”), a compound of *agiz (“snake, lizard”) + *þahsuz (“badger”). Cognate of German Echse (“lizard”).

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishasken
      • inheritedOld Englishāscian
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*aiskōn “to ask”
          • partProto-West Germanic*aisk
          • partProto-West Germanic*-ōn
            • inheritedProto-Germanic*-ōną
              • inheritedProto-Indo-European*-eh₂yéti
                • partProto-Indo-European*-éh₂
                  • derivedProto-Indo-European*-h₂
                • partProto-Indo-European*-yéti
              • inheritedProto-Indo-European*-h₂ti
    • inheritedMiddle Englishaske “newt”
      • inheritedOld Englishāþexe “lizard, newt”
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*agiþahsijā “lizard”

    Related: Saterland Frisian aaskje, West Frisian easkje, Dutch eisen, German heischen, Russian иска́ть, Sanskrit इच्छति, Hindi ईछना, German Echse

    Words built on it: asking

    Meanings

    verb
    1. To request (information, or an answer to a question).
    2. To request or enquire of (a person).
    3. To request (an item or service) (see also ask for).
    4. To request (someone to do something).
    5. To request permission (to do something).
    6. To put forward (a question) to be answered.
    noun
    1. An act or instance of asking.
    2. Something asked or asked for.
    3. An asking price.
    4. A message sent to a blog on social networking platform Tumblr, which can be publicly posted and replied to by the recipient.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: ask