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thack

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thack¹

  • /θæk/ US, UK

Rhymes with -æk

Where it comes from

From Middle English thakken (“to stroke”), from Old English þaccian (“to touch gently, stroke, tap”), from Proto-West Germanic *þakwōn, from Proto-Germanic *þakwōną (“to touch lightly”), from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- (“to touch”).

Cognate with Old Dutch þakolōn (“to stroke”), Old Norse þykkr (“a thwack, thump, blow”), Icelandic þjökka, þjaka (“to thwack, thump, beat”), Norwegian tjåka (“to strike, beat”), Latin tangō (“touch”). More at thwack, tangent.

verb thacks · thacking · thacked

  1. dialectal, transitive To strike or thump (someone or something); to thwack.

thack²

  • /θæk/ US, UK

Rhymes with -æk

Where it comes from

From Middle English thacce, from thakken (“to stroke”): see etymology 1.

noun thacks

  1. A stroke; a thwack.

interjection

  1. The sound of a thack. 1860, Albany Fonblanque, Jun., Hector Mainwaring; or, A lease for lives, Ward and Lock, page 205, Thack ! thack ! thack ! the heavy hunting whip came down upon the head and shoulders of Charles Dudley.

thack³

  • /θæk/ US, UK

Rhymes with -æk

Where it comes from

From Middle English thak, thakk, thakke, from Old English þæc, from Proto-West Germanic *þak, from Proto-Germanic *þaką, from Proto-Indo-European *teg-.

Cognate with Dutch dak, Low German Dack, Danish tag (“roof”), German Dach (“roof”), Old Norse þak (“thatch, roof”). Akin to Latin toga (“garment”) and Ancient Greek στέγος (stégos, “roof”). See also thatch and deck.

noun thacks

  1. countable, uncountable The weatherproof outer layer of a roof, often specifically thatch. This outer layer was generically known as 'thack', but, owing to the fact that the vast majority of buildings in early times were covered with a thacking of straw or some similar material, 'thatch' gradually acquired its modern restricted significance of straw, or reed, heling.

verb thacks · thacking · thacked

  1. To cover a roof with thack. The said day, it was represented that the thacking and covering of Houses houses in the towne with straw and hedder wes very dangerous, and rendered them obnoxious to fyre, and to the endangering of the saids houses and the neighbouring adjacent houses, and that a fatall evidence thereof, by haveing

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MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{thack_2026,
  title = {thack},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/thack},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}