eke

Etymology 1

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”). The verb is derived partly: * from the noun; and * from Middle English eken (“to increase, add, enlarge”) [and other forms], from three distinct verbs (1) Old English īeċan (“to increase, add, enlarge”) (transitive), (2) ēacan (“to be enlarged or increased”), and (3) ēacian, all from Proto-Germanic *aukaną (“to grow, increase”); see further above. The English verb is cognate with Latin augeō (“to augment, increase; to enlarge, expand, spread; to lengthen; to exaggerate; to enrich; to honour; (figuratively) to exalt, praise”), Old English ēac (“also”), Old Norse auka (“to augment, increase; to add; to exceed, surpass”), Icelandic auka (“to augment, increase to add; to exceed, surpass”), (Danish øge (“to enhance; to increase”), Norwegian Bokmål øke (“to increase”), Norwegian Nynorsk auka (“to increase”), Swedish öka (“to increase”)).

noun

1. (obsolete except Britain, dialectal) An addition.
   [T]hey [the Catholics and Puritans] encumbered their verſion [of the Bible] with a load of uſeleſs Italics; often without the leaſt neceſſity, and almoſt always to the detriment of the text. In fact, either the words in Italics are virtually implied in the Hebrew, or they are not. In the former caſe they are a real part of the text, and ſhould be printed in the ſame character: in the latter, they are generally ill aſſorted and clumſy ekes, that may well be ſpared; and which often disfigure the narration under pretence of connecting it. 1786, Alexander Geddes, Prospectus of a New Translation of the Holy Bible from Corrected Texts of the Originals, Compared with the Ancient Versions.[…], Glasgow: Printed for the author, and sold by R[obert] Faulder,[…]; C. Eliot,[…]; and —— Cross,[…], →OCLC, page 95
2. (beekeeping, archaic) A small stand on which a beehive is placed.
   Various have been the contrivances for effecting the separation of storage and breeding departments in a hive. […] An empty box or hive, pushed beneath a full one, is denominated a Nadir,—a mode of practice not always advisable except in the case of swarms of the same year, or towards the latter end of very abundant seasons. A still smaller addition to a common hive consists of merely a few bands of straw, on which it is raised temporarily, and this constitutes an eke. […] The entrance to the stock-hive must be stopped, and one made at the bottom of the eke or nadir. 1850, Henry Taylor, “Swarming (or Single Hiving) and Depriving Systems”, in The Bee-keepers Manual, or Practical Hints on the Management and Complete Preservation of the Honey-bee;[…], 6th edition, London: Groombridge and Sons,[…], →OCLC, pages 24–25
3. (beekeeping) A spacer put between or over or under hive parts to make more space.

verb

1. (transitive) Chiefly in the form eke out: to add to, to augment; to increase; to lengthen.
   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. 8 October 1694, “A Letter from a Lancashire Friend about Breeding Cattle.[…]”, in Richard Bradley, editor, compiled by John Houghton, Husbandry and Trade Improv’d: Being a Collection of Many Valuable Materials Relating to Corn, Cattle, Coals, Hops, Wool, &c. […] In Three Volumes, volume I, number CXIII, London: Prin[t]ed for Woo[d]man and Lyon[…], published 1727, →OCLC, page 303
   Pity the hag-ridd'n quiv'rer who contracts / To ſuperſtition's gloom religion's joy, / And humbles adoration into dread. / Who ekeing his inch'd meaſure from within, / Peeps through his narrow ſoul's dim loop-hole wink, / And inſolently by his own ſcale takes / The altitude of heaven. a. 1751, Aaron Hill, “Free Thoughts upon Faith: Or, The Religion of Reason”, in The Poetical Works of Aaron Hill, Esq.[…], Edinburgh: Printed by Mundell and Son,[…], published 1794, →OCLC; republished in Robert Anderson, editor, The Works of the British Poets.[…], volume VIII, London: Printed for John & Arthur Arch; and for Bell & Bradfute, and J. Mundell & Co.[…], 1795, →OCLC, page 729, column 2
   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. 1768, J[ohn] Ray, A Complete Collection of English Proverbs; also, the Most Celebrated Proverbs of the Scotch, Italian, French, Spanish, and Other Languages. […] Reproduced Verbatim from the Edition of 1768., London: Printed for T. and J. Allman,[…]; T. Boone,[…]; and Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy,[…], published 1817, →OCLC, page 71
   [T]he author William Belsham] ekes out his volume with a great many extraneous details, which relate to a ſubſequent period; […] The whole work is ſingularly confuſed and deſultory: and, indeed, the plan which the author adopts, is altogether incompatible with that unity and coherence which is eſſential to hiſtory. 1805 July, “Art. XIV. History of Great Britain. By William Belsham. Vol. XI. and XII. London, 1805. 8vo. [book review]”, in The Edinburgh Review, or Critical Journal, volume VI, number XII, Edinburgh: Printed by D. Willison,[…], for Archibald Constable & Co.[…], and Longman Hurst Rees and Orme,[…], →OCLC, page 428
   It must be acknowledged, that Mr. [William] Gifford's versification is sometimes unharmonious, and even harsh; that, like almost every other translator, he too often has recourse to eking words in order to complete his measure, and that his rhymes are frequently imperfect and faulty. 1811 June, “For the Anthology. Remarks on English Translations of the Roman Poets. No. 15. Juvenal.”, in The Monthly Anthology, and Boston Review.[…], volume X, Boston, Mass.: Printed and published by T[homas] B. Wait and Co.[…], →OCLC, page 384
   If however the distention from the wind cometh suddenly, then these things cannot help, since that will turn into dropsy. If one applieth the warming leechdoms to that, then one eketh or augmenteth the disease. 1865, “Leech Book”, in Oswald Cockayne, editor, Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England. Being a Collection of Documents, for the Most Part Never Before Printed, Illustrating the History of Science in this Country Before the Norman Conquest.[…] (Rerum Britannicarum Medii Ævi Scriptores, or Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages; 35), London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, →OCLC, book II, chapter xxxix, page 249
   But before too long, the rations that Parivash was ekeing out to feed them fell short and the tension that sprang from so many families piled in together overflowed. 2011, Kamin Mohammadi, “Displaced”, in The Cypress Tree: A Love Letter to Iran, London: Bloomsbury Publishing; paperback edition, London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012, page 197
   It [New England] is also a place of history, a place that defines what it means to be American. Here grew the men and women who founded this country. […] sailors, whalers, and lobstermen eking a hard-won living from the ocean. 2012, Stewart M. Green, “Introduction”, in Amy Lyons, editor, New England (Scenic Routes & Byways), Guilford, Conn.: Morris Book Publishing, page 1
   British tycoon Richard Branson stole the show here Wednesday, announcing that he and his family would be on Virgin Galactic's first trip into space, as Airbus and Boeing eked out more plane orders. 12 July 2012, Ben Perry, “Branson’s spaceship steals the spotlight at airshow”, in Yahoo! News, archived from the original on 2020-04-26
   Very nearly as a cure for the man's innocence Tengan fired his cannons on him, and as the pilot, doomed and honorable, eked his plane a few metres into the air, both he and it were consumed by a frightful orb of fire. 2013, Thomas Keneally, chapter 2, in Shame and the Captives (A Knopf Book), North Sydney, N.S.W.: Random House Australia; 1st trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Washington Square Press, Simon & Schuster, December 2015, page 24

Etymology 2

From Middle English ek, eek, eke (“also”) [and other forms], from Old English ēac, ǣc, ēc (“also”), from Proto-West Germanic *auk, from Proto-Germanic *auk (“also, too; furthermore, in addition”), then either: * from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg- (“to enlarge, increase”); or * from Pre-Germanic *h₂ew (“away from, off; again”) + *g(ʰ)e (postpositional intensifying particle meaning ‘at any rate, indeed, in fact’) The English word is cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐌺 (auk, “also; for, because; but also”), Old Frisian âk, Old High German ouh (“also, as well, too”) (Middle High German ouch, modern German auch (“also, as well, too”)), Old Norse auk (“also; and”) (Danish og (“and”), Swedish och (“and”), ock (“(dated) also, as well as, too”)), Old Saxon ôk, Dutch ook (“also, too; moreover; either”), Saterland Frisian ook, uk (“also, too”), West Frisian ek (“also, too”).

adv

1. (archaic) Also; in addition to.
   The ſoote [i.e., sweet] ſeaſon, that bud and blome forth brings, / With grene hath clad the hill, and eke the vale: […] a. 1548, Henry Haward, late Earle of Surrey [i.e., Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey], “Description of Spring, wherin Eche Thing Renewes, Saue Onely the Louer”, in Songes and Sonettes,[…], [London]: Apud Richardum Tottel [i.e., Richard Tottel], published 1557, →OCLC