# shalk

> English word · Noun · IPA /ʃɔːk/

## Definitions
1. A servant.
2. A man; fellow.

## 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”).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/shalk