skylark

English

Wikispecies

Etymology

From sky +‎ lark.

Verb sense 1809, originally nautical, possibly influenced by northern English dialectal term lake/laik (“to play”) (from Old Norse leika (“to play (as opposed to work)”)); see lark for details.[1]

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈskaɪlɑːk/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈskaɪlɑɹk/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -aɪlɑː(ɹ)k

Noun

skylark (plural skylarks)

  1. A small brown passerine bird, Alauda arvensis, that sings as it flies high into the air.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

skylark (third-person singular simple present skylarks, present participle skylarking, simple past and past participle skylarked)

  1. (dated, originally nautical) To jump about joyfully, frolic; to play around, play tricks.
    • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 5:
      I cherished no malice towards him, though he had been skylarking with me not a little in the matter of my bedfellow.

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “skylark”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  • Google Ngram Viewer: "skylark, skylarking"
    Peak usage 1900—1925, steady decline thereafter.
  • Cultural Studies Review, October 2008, p. 40:
    "...'skylarking' is a somewhat outmoded term..."
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