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Added 9 October 2026

sink

/ˈsɪŋk/ noun

In Latin: mergor Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about sink at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Plumbing fixture consisting of a water basin fixed to a wall or floor and having a drainpipe.
(technology) a process that acts to absorb or remove energy or a substance from a system.
the ocean is a sink for carbon dioxide
A depression in the ground communicating with a subterranean passage (especially in limestone) and formed by solution or by collapse of a cavern roof.

verb

Fall or descend to a lower place or level.
He sank to his knees
Cause to sink.
The Japanese sank American ships in Pearl Harbor
Pass into a specified state or condition.
He sank into nirvana

Origin

From Middle English synken, from Old English sincan, from Proto-West Germanic *sinkwan, from Proto-Germanic *sinkwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sengʷ- (“to fall, sink”). Compare West Frisian sinke, Low German sinken, Dutch zinken, German sinken, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål synke, Swedish sjunka. In the causative sense, it replaced Old English senċan (“make sink”) from Proto-Germanic *sankwijaną.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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