yoke
A wooden beam fastened over the necks of two animals for pulling.
Etymology
From Old English geoc, from Proto-Germanic *juką, from PIE *yugóm "yoke," from the root *yewg- "to join, harness." The yoke was one of the most important technologies of the PIE world — it allowed oxen to pull ploughs and carts. The word also gives us "join," "conjugal," and "yoga."
The Journey: *yugóm → yoke
*yugóm
*juką
geoc
yoke
Cognates Across Languages
These words in other languages descend from the same PIE root *yugóm. They are not borrowings but independent inheritances from a common ancestor.
| Language | Word |
|---|---|
| Greek | zugón |
| Latin | iugum |
| Welsh | iau |
| Hittite | yugan |
| Sanskrit | yugám |
| Lithuanian | jungas |
| Old Church Slavonic | igo |
Did You Know?
PIE *yugóm gives English "yoke" (native), "join" and "conjugal" (via Latin iungere), and "yoga" and "Zen" (via Sanskrit yuj- "to unite"). All from the same root meaning "to join."
This word descends from the Proto-Indo-European root *yugóm. See the full root page for descendant trees, sound law references, and scholarly discussion.