Hammock — Lexography

Journey of meaning

3 forms

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The hammock journey, in text

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*hamaka · Proto-Arawak
noun · Proto-Arawak
Reading: Reading not yet researched
Reconstructed hanging net or cloth form.. Reconstructed hanging net or cloth form.
Date not yet researched — No word-specific date established in the inspected sources.
Arawakan reference region — Glottolog language reference point; not an origin, borrowing site or territorial boundary.
The English entry compares Taíno hamaka with a Proto-Arawak reconstruction for the hanging net word. English > Etymology
Spanish hamaca is the donor form for English hammock and appears in early accounts of Caribbean travel. English > Etymology
Glottolog supplies the reference coordinates for Arawakan. LanguageTable row araw1281
hamaca · Spanish
noun · Spanish
Reading: Reading not yet researched
Hanging bed or net in which people sleep.. Hanging bed or net in which people sleep.
c. late 15th–16th century · Spanish Caribbean context — Contextual period for early Spanish contact accounts; not a precise borrowing date.
Spanish reference region — Glottolog language reference point; not an origin, borrowing site or territorial boundary.
The English entry compares Taíno hamaka with a Proto-Arawak reconstruction for the hanging net word. English > Etymology
Spanish hamaca is the donor form for English hammock and appears in early accounts of Caribbean travel. English > Etymology
English hammock is dated to the 1650s, altered from hamack/hamaca, and denotes a hanging bed. hammock(n.)
The English entry supplies the modern hammock reading. English > Pronunciation
Glottolog supplies the reference coordinates for Spanish. LanguageTable row stan1288
hammock · English
noun · English
Reading: HAM-uk
A swinging couch or bed suspended by cords.. A swinging couch or bed suspended by cords.
c. 1650s · English hammock — Reported English lexical context.
English reference region / Britain — Glottolog language reference point; not an origin, borrowing site or territorial boundary.
Spanish hamaca is the donor form for English hammock and appears in early accounts of Caribbean travel. English > Etymology
English hammock is dated to the 1650s, altered from hamack/hamaca, and denotes a hanging bed. hammock(n.)
The English entry supplies the modern hammock reading. English > Pronunciation
Glottolog supplies the reference coordinates for English. LanguageTable row stan1293

Relationships

*hamaka → hamaca: borrowing, qualified. Spanish hamaca continues the reported Taíno/Arawakan hanging-net word. English > Etymology English > Etymology

hamaca → hammock: borrowing, documented. English hammock is borrowed through Spanish hamaca. English > Etymology hammock(n.)English > Pronunciation

Inspect the evidence 7 claims

Open a claim to follow the source and our interpretation.

01Glottolog supplies the reference coordinates for Arawakan.
Source
Glottolog 5.3 — language reference coordinatesHammarström, Forkel, Haspelmath & Bank; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyLanguageTable row araw1281
Source passage
Reference record
araw1281 · Arawakan · Latitude -3.1102292773127544 · Longitude -63.45763454743985
LanguageTable row araw1281; Name, Latitude, Longitude
Qualification Reference only
Language reference coordinates, not a word origin, borrowing site, historical territory or population distribution.
What Lexography infers
Use this point only to orient Arawakan reference region; no historical movement is inferred.
Checked 2026-09-11 · revision 072ca0d0410039fb8b779be8fc165bac575d2cda. CC BY 4.0; selected coordinates, rounded for regional orientation
02The English entry compares Taíno hamaka with a Proto-Arawak reconstruction for the hanging net word.
Source
Wiktionary — hammockWiktionary contributorsEnglish > Etymology
Source passage
Source summary · not a quotation
The English entry compares Taíno hamaka with a Proto-Arawak reconstruction for the hanging net word.
English > Etymology
Qualification Qualified
The reconstructed form is not a written attestation and is shown only as a bounded ancestry claim.
What Lexography infers
Mark the Proto-Arawak form as reconstructed and avoid treating it as an attested document.
Checked 2026-09-14. Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0 / GFDL; current page inspected, attributed summaries only; no full article redistributed.
03Glottolog supplies the reference coordinates for Spanish.
Source
Glottolog 5.3 — language reference coordinatesHammarström, Forkel, Haspelmath & Bank; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyLanguageTable row stan1288
Source passage
Reference record
stan1288 · Spanish · Latitude 40.4414 · Longitude -1.11788
LanguageTable row stan1288; Name, Latitude, Longitude
Qualification Reference only
Language reference coordinates, not a word origin, borrowing site, historical territory or population distribution.
What Lexography infers
Use this point only to orient Spanish reference region; no historical movement is inferred.
Checked 2026-09-11 · revision 072ca0d0410039fb8b779be8fc165bac575d2cda. CC BY 4.0; selected coordinates, rounded for regional orientation
04Spanish hamaca is the donor form for English hammock and appears in early accounts of Caribbean travel.
Source
Wiktionary — hammockWiktionary contributorsEnglish > Etymology
Source passage
Source summary · not a quotation
Spanish hamaca is the donor form for English hammock and appears in early accounts of Caribbean travel.
English > Etymology
Qualification Qualified
The travel narrative supplies lexical context but is not treated as a complete first-attestation history.
What Lexography infers
Use Spanish hamaca as the immediate European donor.
Checked 2026-09-14. Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0 / GFDL; current page inspected, attributed summaries only; no full article redistributed.
05Glottolog supplies the reference coordinates for English.
Source
Glottolog 5.3 — language reference coordinatesHammarström, Forkel, Haspelmath & Bank; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyLanguageTable row stan1293
Source passage
Reference record
stan1293 · English · Latitude 53.0 · Longitude -1.0
LanguageTable row stan1293; Name, Latitude, Longitude
Qualification Reference only
Language reference coordinates, not a word origin, borrowing site, historical territory or population distribution.
What Lexography infers
Use this point only to orient English reference region / Britain; no historical movement is inferred.
Checked 2026-09-11 · revision 072ca0d0410039fb8b779be8fc165bac575d2cda. CC BY 4.0; selected coordinates, rounded for regional orientation
06English hammock is dated to the 1650s, altered from hamack/hamaca, and denotes a hanging bed.
Source
hammock — EtymologyOnline Etymology Dictionaryhammock(n.)
Source passage
Source summary · not a quotation
English hammock is dated to the 1650s, altered from hamack/hamaca, and denotes a hanging bed.
hammock(n.)
Qualification Qualified
The English date is lexical context and does not date the Indigenous source or the invention of the object.
What Lexography infers
Keep object history outside the word route.
Checked 2026-09-14. Linked source retains its copyright. Brief original factual paraphrases only; no full article redistributed.
07The English entry supplies the modern hammock reading.
Source
Wiktionary — hammockWiktionary contributorsEnglish > Pronunciation
Source passage
Source summary · not a quotation
The English entry supplies the modern hammock reading.
English > Pronunciation
Qualification Source-supported
The cited section supports this bounded lexical statement; it does not establish every use, date or transmission event.
What Lexography infers
Lexography selects this account for the named form or sense; wording and presentation are editorial.
Checked 2026-09-14. Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0 / GFDL; current page inspected, attributed summaries only; no full article redistributed.