NYT Dictionary

ROOK

/ɹuːk/
NounVerbRUHKGrade 7

Accepted in official NYT Spelling Bee puzzle years: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026

Meaning

A European bird, Corvus frugilegus, of the crow family.

Etymology

Origin: Old English

* Inherited from Middle English rok, roke, from Old English hrōc, from Proto-West Germanic *hrōk, from Proto-Germanic *hrōkaz (compare Old Norse hrókr, Saterland Frisian Rouk, Dutch roek, obsolete German Ruch), from Proto-Indo-European *kerk- (“crow, raven”) (compare Old Irish cerc (“hen”), Old Prussian kerko (“loon, diver”), dialectal Bulgarian кро́кон (krókon, “raven”), Ancient Greek κόραξ (kórax, “crow”), Old Armenian ագռաւ (agṙaw), Avestan 𐬐𐬀𐬵𐬭𐬐𐬀𐬙𐬀𐬝 (kahrkatat̰, “rooster”), Sanskrit कृकर (kṛkara, “rooster”)), Ukrainian крук (kruk, “raven”). * (parson): Probably from the resemblance in plumage to a parson's garments.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

bamboozlerbouncerbullshittercheatcheatercoggercony-catchercrammerdeceiverdeceptor

NYT Puzzle Appearances

Accepted in 8 recorded puzzles:

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