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spelk

English

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spelk¹

  • /spɛlk/

Rhymes with -ɛlk

Where it comes from

From Middle English spelke, from Old English spilc, spelc (“a splint”), from Proto-West Germanic *spelku, from Proto-Germanic *spelkō, *spalkō, *spalkuz (“bast, splint”). Cognate with Old Norse spjalkir (“bars, rails”, plural).

noun spelks

  1. Cumbria, Northumbria A splinter, usually of wood.
  2. Cumbria, Northumbria A wooden splinter caught under the skin.
  3. Northern English A rod or switch.
  4. Unusably short lengths of fibre-reinforced material, such as prepreg.

spelk²

  • /spɛlk/

Rhymes with -ɛlk

Where it comes from

From Middle English spelken, from Old English spelċan, from Proto-West Germanic *spalkijan, from Proto-Germanic *spalkijaną. Cognate with Old Norse spelkja.

verb spelks · spelking · spelked

  1. Northern English, transitive To use a spelk in or on. A spelk is often a hazel of two or three years' growth. It is pointed at each end, and is three or four feet long, and is placed at right angles with the thatch to hold it down. Sometimes a bit of very neat work is displayed in the spelking of the thatch […]

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MLA

"spelk." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/spelk. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

spelk. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/spelk

Chicago

"spelk." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/spelk.

BibTeX
@misc{spelk_2026,
  title = {spelk},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/spelk},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}