Noun: kakkerlak
Gender: Masculine
Hyphenation:
| Sg. | kakkerlak |
| Pl. | kakkerlakken |
Sample Sentences
Nouns inflected like kakkerlak
schrik,
slabak,
betonblok,
gouden handdruk,
boomklok,
trainingspak,
kofferbak,
febbekak,
opiniestuk,
twaalfvlak,
zwempak,
bokszak,
aftelklok,
konijnenhok,
bouwvak,
grijsbok,
vraagstuk,
broekzakgesprek,
vroegstuk,
baanvak, etc. (List truncated at 20 nouns)
Etymology
1. First attested as kackerlack towards the end of the 16th century as a derogatory term for a chatterbox or sycophant, deriving from kakker, a contemptuous term derived from kakken (“to shit, defecate”), and lakker (“talker, freeloader”), from likken (“to lick”).
2. This word was subsequently conflated (from the mid-17th century onwards) with an unrelated early Portuguese form cacalacca designating the insect. The Portuguese word has in turn been argued to be derived from a Caribbean word, from which Spanish cucaracha and hence English cockroach also originate. However, a more likely theory is that the Portuguese learned that name from the people in the then Dahomey. In Fon, kakalaka means cockroaches. See: Spanish Nouns '
cucaracha', English Nouns '
cockroach'.
Verbs referencing "kakkerlak"
Danish Nouns
kakerlak, French Nouns
cancrelat, German Nouns
Kakerlake, Swedish Nouns
kackerlacka, Icelandic Nouns
kakkalakki.
Translations