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WALK,
to move along on foot without running. (E.) M. E. walken,
formerly a strong verb, pt. t. welk, pp. walken. The
pt. t. welk occurs in the Pricke of Conscience, ll. 4248, 4390; the pp.
is spelt walke, King Horn, ed. Lumby, 953.—A. S. wealcan,
pt. weólc, pp. wealcen, to roll, to toss oneself about, rove about,
Grein, ii. 669. Thus the orig. sense was 'to roll,' much as in the
proverb 'a rolling [moving] stone gathers no moss.' Hence the M. E.
walker, Wyclif, Mark, ix. 2 (earlier version), lit. a roller, a term applied to
a fuller of cloth (from his stamping on or pressing it); A. S. wealcere = Lat.
fullo, Wright's Voc. ii. 38, col. I; still common as a proper name. + Du.
walken,
to work or make a hat. O. Du. walcken, 'to presse, to squeeze, or to
straine;' walcker, 'a fuller;' Hexham. + Icel. válka, volka, to roll, to stamp,
to roll oneself, to wallow; válk, a tossing about. + Swed. valka, to roll, to
full, to work. + Dan. valke, to full, to mill. + G. walken, to full, O. H. G.
walchan, to full, also to roll or turn oneself round, to move about; hence G.
walker, a fuller. β. All from Teut. base WALK, to roll about,
answering to Aryan WALG, WARG, to bend round, whence Lat. ualgus, bent, uergere,
to bend, turn, incline, Skt. (Vedic) vrij, to bend, vrijana, crooked, curled;
Fick, iii. 298. This
✔WARG is an extension from
✔WAR, to
turn round, roll round, whence Skt. val, to move to and fro, Russ. valiate, to
roll, as well as the extended base WALW, as seen in Lat. uoluere, to roll.
See Voluble. Der.
walk, sb., Tw. Nt. i. 3. 138; walk-ing-staff,
Rich. II, iii. 3. 151; walk-ing-stick. Also walk-er, a fuller, P.
Plowman, C. i. 222. And see wallow.
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