eke

Word origin

The noun is derived from Middle English eke (“addition, increase, enlargement”), from Old English ēaca, from Proto-Germanic *aukô, from *aukaną (“to increase, add, enlarge”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg- (“to enlarge, increase”). The English noun is cognate with Old Frisian āka (“addition, increase; bonus”), Old Norse auki (“growth, increase, proliferation”).

Used in a sentence

• “Is not enough, that thruſt from heauen dew / Here endleſſe penaunce for one fault I pay, / But that redoubled crime with vengeaunce new / Thou biddeſt me to eeke?”

• “Now the reaſons why they teach the calves to drink ſo ſoon are various. […] Secondly, the goodwife ſaves milk by this way of drinking, for ſhe quickly ekes out the milk with pottage, &c.”

• “All ekes [or helps] as the geni-wren said, when she piss'd in the sea. / Many littles make a mickle, the whole ocean is made up of drops.”

Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0