782: squeal, squeak, shriek, and screech Jan 28, 2017

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Words that come from imitative origins tend to be very simple, earthly concepts. It does not mean, however, that these were going to be the earliest existing words, even if some of them can be dated back thousands of year. The verb, 'squeak' is certainly imitative, but it only entered this language in late Middle English; it took even longer for the word to be used as a noun, and likewise, 'squeal' only started at the same period. The verb 'shriek' entered a little while later as well, along with its the no longer used 'screak'. To finish off the list, 'screech' was used beginning in mid 16th century, though earlier the word, 'scritch' was used, both imitative. For more on the history and perception of imitative words, see these links.



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