shalk

/ʃɔːk/

Etymology From Middle English schalk, scalk, from Old English scealc (“servant; man, soldier, sailor”), from Proto-West Germanic *skalk, from Proto-Germanic *skalkaz (“servant, knight”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“to cleave, separate, part, divide”). Cognate with German Schalk (“joker”), Old Norse skálkr (“servant, rogue”) ( > Danish and Swedish skalk), Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌻𐌺𐍃 (skalks, “servant”).