Forms: 1 ʓeoc, ʓioc, ioc, iuc, 2–3 ȝoc, 3 ȝeoc, ȝiok, (Orm.) ȝocc, 3–5 (6 Sc.) ȝok, 4 ȝook, 4–5 (6 Sc.) ȝokke, ȝoke, (6–7 Sc.) ȝock, 4–6 (8–9 dial.) yok, 4–7 (8–9 dial.) yock, 5 ȝokk, youk(k)e, 5–7 yocke, 6 youck, yowcke, yowg, yoike, (pl. yoixe ?), Sc. ȝoik, (ȝoilk), 6–7 yoake, (7 yolke, oak), 6–8 yoak, (8 yolk), 4– yoke. (Com. Teut. str. neuter: OE. ʓeoc = OS. juc (MLG. juk, MDu. juc, joc, LG., Du. juk, jok), OHG. juh, joch, (MHG., G. joch), ON. ok (Sw. âka, Da. aag), Goth. juk, corresp. to L. jugum, Gr. ζυγόν, W. iau, OSl. igo, Skr. yugá-m :— Indo-eur. *jugóm.
The Indo-eur. series jeug-: joug-: jug- is represented also by OHG., MHG. giuh, jiuch yoke, ‘yoke’ of land (whence late OHG. jûhhart, MHG. jûchert, dial. G. jauchert, juchert), L. jūgerum measure of land, Gr. ζεῦγος yoke of beasts, couple; ON. eykr (:— Teut. *jaukiz), Skr. yógya beast of draught; Skr. yuj, Gr. ζευγνύναι, L. jungere, Lith. jungiù to yoke, couple, join, Skr. yóga union.
On the analogy of LOCK sb.1 from OE. loc, the modern standard form would be yock, which survives in certain (chiefly north-midland) districts. Orthographic evidence for the lengthening of the stem vowel (which began first in the inflected forms) appears in the latter part of the 14th century.]
I. 1. A contrivance, used from ancient times, by which two animals, esp. oxen, are coupled together for drawing a plow or vehicle; usually consisting of a somewhat curved or hollowed piece of wood fitted with ‘bows’ or hoops at the ends which are passed round the animals’ necks, and having a ring or hook attached to the middle to which is fastened a chain or trace extending backward by which the plow or vehicle is drawn.
In the yoke: with the oxen yoked up.
c. 1050. Ags. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 267/34. Iugum, iuc. Ibid., 313/37. Jugum, ʓeoc.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 21288. Þe carter self is iesus crist, His bodi es yock [v.rr. ȝok, ȝock] he has stablist.
c. 1325. Gloss. W. de Bibbesw., in Wright, Voc., 169. Les juges, the yokkes.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, cxxxii. 3. A wylde beste in þe ȝoke.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 131. Hou that an Oxe his yock hath bore For thing that scholde him noght availe.
c. 1425. Wyntoun, Cron., I. xvi. 1615. He gert bestis yndyr ȝok [v.r. ȝoke] Thoil broddis sare and mony knok.
1523–34. Fitzherb., Husb., § 5. To lerne to make his yokes, oxe-bowes, stooles, and all maner of plough-geare.
1526. Tindale, Matt. xxi. 5. The foole off an asse vsed to the yooke.
1534. in Weaver, Wells Wills (1890), 6. Ye plow and all belongyn therto, cheyns, yowgs and such other.
1535. Coverdale, Job xxxix. 10. Canst thou bynde yt yock aloute him in thy forowes?
1563. Richmond Wills (Surtees), 169. Four yoikes for oxen.
1593. Lanc. Wills (Chetham Soc., 1884), 121. Plowe harrowes Cheynes and Yockes to yt belonginge.
1599. Shaks., Much Ado, I. i. 263. In time the sauage Bull doth beare the yoake.
1642. in Verney Mem. (1907), I. 232. Beasts that have bine used to the yooke.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 227. Let ’em … never know The taming Yoak, or draw the crooked Plough.
1728–46. Thomson, Spring, 38. There, unrefusing, to the harness’d yoke They lend their shoulder and begin their toil.
1834. Brit. Husb., I. 194. In England the custom is to attach the yoke round the neck by a hoop of alder, or of elm, fixed under it, which, passing through the yoke, is then fastened to the upper part with buttons, or pegs, upon the ends of the hoop, which is called a bow.
1846. J. Baxter, Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4), II. 107. It is a question, whether it is most advantageous to work oxen by the collar or harness single, or in double yoke.
1850. R. G. Cumming, Hunter’s Life S. Afr., xii. We were in the yoke soon after daybreak.
1860. Tennyson, Tithonis, 40. The wild team Which love thee, yearning for thy yoke.
1876. Voyle & Stevenson, Milit. Dict., s.v. Yokes are required for bullock draught, and are used either for pole or trace.
b. A similar appliance anciently placed on the neck of a captive or conquered enemy; among the ancient Romans and others, a symbol of this consisting of two spears fixed upright in the ground with another on the top of them, under which vanquished enemies were compelled to pass.
a. 1000. Ags. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 195/7. Boia, arcus, uel ʓeoc. Ibid. (c. 1050), 336/38. Bogia, iuc oððe swurcops.
1549. Compl. Scot., xii. 101. Ve sal put ȝour cragis in ane ȝoik to be ane perpetual takyn that ȝe ar vencust be vs.
1600. Holland, Livy, III. xxviii. 107. His … pleasure was, they should passe al under the yoke or gallowes.
1649. Alcoran, 151. They shall have Oaks [ed. 1734 collars] upon their necks.
1720. Ozell, trans. Vertot’s Rom. Rep., II. IX. 93. Jugurtha grants the Romans Life and Liberty but upon Condition that they should pass under the Yoke.
1875. Merivale, Gen. Hist. Rome, xxx. 209. His army was routed, and passed under the yoke.
c. A figure or representation of a yoke.
Stone yoke, an ancient Mexican carving representing a yoke, supposed to have been placed on the necks of victims when sacrificed.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 8 b. Garmentes … travessed with cloth of gold, cut in Pomegranettes and yokes, strynged after the facion of Spaygne.
1688. Holme, Armoury, III. 335/2. He beareth Vert, a Yoke.
1899. Smithsonian Rep., 41. A beautiful example of the stone yoke, or ceremonial collar.
2. A wooden frame or collar fitted on the neck of a hog or other animal, to prevent it from breaking through or leaping over a hedge, fence, etc.
1573–80. Tusser, Husb. (1878), 38. Strong yoke for a hog.
1669. Worlidge, Syst. Agric., 278. A Yoak,… an Instrument … to put on Swine or other unruly Creatures, to keep them from running through Hedges.
1886. Cheshire Gloss., s.v. I have never seen a pig yoked, but yokes are still in common use for cattle and sheep; and I have, on one occasion at least, seen a number of hens all wearing yokes.
3. A frame fitted to the neck and shoulders of a person for carrying a pair of pails, baskets, etc.
c. 1618. Moryson, Itin., IV. iii. (1903), 383. I haue seene men … carry the milke in two payles fastned to a wooden yoke before them.
c. 1700. Kennett, MS. Lansd. 1033. A yoak of milk, two pailes.
1821. Clare, Vill. Minstr., I. 155. Whenever to rest she her buckets set down, She jinkled her yokes to and fro.
1876. Hardy, Ethelberta, i. The speaker, who had been carrying a pair of pails on a yoke, deposited them upon the edge of the pavement.
b. A part of a garment, made to fit the shoulders (or the hips), and supporting the depending parts, often of double thickness, of special material, or particularly ornamented.
1882. Caulfeild & Saward, Dict. Needlework, 527. Yokes.—These are headings, or shaped Lands, into which plaitings or gatherings of garments are sewn, and which are so cut as to fit either the shoulders or the hips, and from which the rest of the bodice, nightdress, dressing gown, or the skirt is to depend.
1891. Truth, 10 Dec., 1240/2. The front [of a tea-gown] was all white satin,… with a yoke of gold and white embroidery.
1903. Daily Chron., 24 Jan., 8/4. The hip-yoke is a plain piece, sometimes, however, covered with embroidery, that is moulded to the figure below the waist.
4. Applied to various objects resembling the yoke of a plow.
e.g., † a ridge of hill connecting two peaks (after L. jugum), an arched convex frame, timber, bar, etc. (see quots.).
1382. Wyclif, Isa. xxxvii. 24. I steȝede vp the heiȝtus of mounteynes, ȝokes [later vers. ȝockis] of Liban.
1489. Caxton, Faytes of A., II. xxviii. 139. Leuers of yron youkes for brygges to make with.
1577. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., II. 84. The Uine keeper must often goe about his Uines, and set vp his proppes, and make euen his yokes.
1864. Webster, Yoke.… A frame or convex piece by which a bell is hung for ringing it.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., Yeke.… A branching coupling-section, connecting two pipes with a single one, as the hot and cold water pipes with a single pipe for a shower-bath.
1883. Gresley, Gloss. Coal M., Yokes, short sawn timbers placed across biats for steadying pump trees.
1888. Encycl. Brit., XXIV. 242/1. The fidicula or lyre consisted of a resonant box, having a yoke (jugum or transtillum) instead of a neck. Ibid. (1902), (ed. 10), XXVII. 584/1. The yoke, which joins the [magnet] limbs together and conducts the flux between them.
b. Naut. A board or bar fixed transversely to the head of the rudder, and having two cords or ropes (yoke-lines) attached for steering: see also quots. 1627, 1769.
a. 1625. Nomencl. Navalis (Harl. MS. 2301).
1627. Capt. J. Smith, Sea. Gram., ix. 41. A yoke is when the Sea is so rough as that men cannot gouern the Helme with their hands, and then they sease a block to the Helme on each side at the end, and reeuing two fals thorow them like Gunners Tackles brings them to the ships side, and so some being at the one side of the Tackle, some at the other, they steare her with much more ease than they can with a single rope with a double Turne about the Helme.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1780), Yoke, a name formerly given to the tiller, when communicating with two blocks or sheaves affixed to the inner end of the tiller. It is now applied to a small board or bar which crosses the upper end of a boat’s rudder at right angles.
1792. Jrnl. Ho. Comm., XLVII. 364/1. Those Ships that have no Roundhouse, their Rudders should run up, and steer with a Yoke abaft the Rudder Head.
1840. R. H. Dana, Bef. Mast, xxiii. The bowman had charge of the boat-hook and painter, and the coxswain of the rudder, yoke, and stern-sheets.
II. 5. transf. A pair of animals, esp. oxen, that are or may be coupled by a yoke.
In this sense the plural after a numeral is often yoke.
688–95. Laws of Ine, lx. (Liebermann), 116. Se ceorl se ðe hæfð oðres ʓeoht [v.r. ʓeoc] ahyrod … aʓife ealle.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 195. Half hundre ȝiokes of ocsen.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., B. 66. I haf ȝerned & ȝat ȝokkez of oxen.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xliv. (Lucy), 252. Fyfty ȝok of oxine.
1535. Coverdale, Job xlii. 12. A M. yock oxen [1539 Gt. Bible a M. youck of oxen].
1551. in Phillipps, Wills (c. 1830), 201. I wyll that Ihon my sun, and William my sun, shall have every of them … a yowcke of Oxyn.
1606. Shuttleworths’ Acc. (Chetham Soc.), 173. One yocke of draft oxen, viijll xiijs iiijd.
1660. F. Brooke, trans. Le Blanc’s Trav., 18. A deep well whence they draw water, with a wheel turned round by a yoke of Bulls.
1778. Eng. Gazetteer (ed. 2), s.v. Wergins, One of them required 9 yoke of oxen to draw it.
1879. Bartlett, Egypt to Pal., xix. 408. We … saw men plowing, sometimes with a camel, and oftener with a yoke of cattle.
† b. gen. A pair, couple. Obs.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., II. 224. Þe þridde ȝok þat Poul forfendiþ, is chiding and envie. Ibid. (c. 1380), Wks. (1880), 354. Þis first ȝock bigynniþ wiþ paciens.
1598. Shaks., Merry W., II. i. 181. These that accuse him in his intent towards our wiues, are a yoake of his discarded men.
6. One-fourth of a SULING, about 50 or 60 acres (cf. Oxgang as 1/8 of a plow-land); hence, later, applied vaguely to small manors. (Cf. YOKLET.) Kent.
837. Kent. Charters, 42, in Sweet, O. E. Texts, 450. xvi ʓioc ærðelondes.
c. 1050. Ags. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 424/2. Iuger, iuc.
1653. in Hasted, Hist. Kent (1782), II. 525. [In the survey of Milton manor, taken anno 1653, there is mention made, as held of that manor, of the] yoke of Hamons atte Deane. [Note, Upon these hills, the smaller manors are frequently called yokes.]
1772. Shrubsole & Denne, Hist. Roch., 44. The originals … mention certain persons by name, with the number of yokes and acres belonging to them.
1886. Archeol. Cant., XVI. 767. The yoke of Henwood or Hewitt … at the east end of the town [of Ashford] extended into Willesboro’.
7. A spell of work at the plow (cf. YOKING vbl. sb. 4). local (Kent).
1796. Boys, Agric. Kent, 157. An acre a day is the common yoke for eight or ten oxen in wet, heavy, land, where four horses would plough an acre and a quarter. Ibid. (1805), (ed. 2), 183. When two yokes are made in a day, which is the usual practice of East Kent, the time of going to work is at six o’clock in the morning, returning home at ten; and then going out again at one, and returning at six.
III. 8. fig. or in fig. phr., denoting servitude, subjection, restraint, humiliation, oppression, etc.
c. 888. Ælfred, Boeth., xix. § 1. Æala, ofermodan, hwi ʓe wilniʓen þæt ʓe underlutan mid eowrum swiran þæt deaðlice ʓeoc. Ibid. (c. 897), Gregory’s Past. C., xxix. 200. Ælc ðara þe sie under ðæm ʓeoke hlafordsciepes.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Matt. xi. 29. Nimaþ min ʓeoc ofer eow.
c. 1200. Vices & Virtues, 71. Se ðe … Cristes ȝoc wile beren, and forlat al ðe woreld.
c. 1200. Ormin, 4045. Þatt tanne shollde itt lesedd ben Fra dæþess ȝocc.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 228. What kynne seruauntis ben vnder ȝook of seruage deme þei here lordis worþi alle manere honour or worschipe.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), V. 357. He brouȝte alle þe kynges þat were nyh hym under his ȝok.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., IV. i. 420. What euer seruauntis ben vndir ȝok, deeme thei her lordis worthi al honour.
c. 1450. Capgrave, Life St. Gilbert, 90. Þe ȝok of all þis birden was leid in his nek.
1549. Compl. Scot., iv. 31. Tyl al them that hes resauit the ȝoilk ande the confessione of crist.
1573. Satir. Poems Reform., xli. 68. This day thy heid is in the ȝock.
1588. Shaks., Tit. A., I. i. 69. He circumscribed with his Sword, And brought to yoke the Enemies of Rome.
1596. Spenser, State Irel., Wks. (Globe), 610/2. Having quite shaken of theyr yoke, and broken the bandes of theyre obedience.
1610. Holland, Camden’s Brit., I. 719. It [sc. a castle] became a most grievous yoke unto the neighbour Inhabitants.
1648. J. Beaumont, Psyche, XI. xxxiv. Impudent Boldness! which can … make the Bond of Sweetness their pretence, To break all other yoaks.
1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 36, ¶ 1. Termagant Wives who make Wedlock a Yoke.
1756. Burke, Subl. & Beaut., Introd. In tying us down to the disagreeable yoke of our reason.
1837. Howitt, Rur. Life, I. iv. (1862), 36. The weary yoke of business.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., iii. I. 400. The Restoration emancipated thousands of minds from a yoke which had become insupportable.
1879. Dixon, Windsor, I. ii. 11. His province … had never yet submitted to the Norman yoke.
b. With various other implications, as of connection, cooperation, labor, etc.; in reference to marriage, combining the ideas of union or cooperation and subjection or restraint.
1382. Wyclif, 2 Cor. vi. 14. Nyle ȝe lede ȝok [Vulg. jugum ducere] with vnfeithful men.
a. 1400–50. Wars Alex., 818* (Dubl. MS.). He … fair enformed þam of fight & fetez of armez For ȝapest in hys awne yoke ȝarly to drawe.
c. 1403. Clanvowe, Cuckow & Night., 140. Myn entent is neither for to dye, Ne, whyl I live, in loves yok to draw.
c. 1412. Hoccleve, De Reg. Princ., 3992. Ȝok of mariage.
1475. Stonor Papers (Camden), I. 158. Tyll … þat youkke of wedlokke ly in my nekke as hyt dose now in yours.
1555. Eden, Decades (Arb.), 128. We haue byn ioyned togyther with the yoke of holy matrimonie.
1596. Shaks., Merch. V., III. iv. 13. Companions … Whose soules doe beare an equal yoke of loue.
1645. Fuller, Good Th. in Bad T., 228. It is therefore some comfort that I draw in the same Yoak with my Neighbours.
1697. Dryden, Æneis, IV. 22. Were I not resolv’d against the Yoke Of hapless Marriage.
1847. Tennyson, Princess, VI. 188. If thou needs must bear the yoke, I wish it Gentle as freedom.
1885. Haggard, K. Sol. Mines, i. Well I had better come to the yoke [i.e., begin my task].
IV. 9. Comb., as (sense 1) yoke-bar, -bow, -gear, -peg, -pin, -ring, -work; (sense 3) yoke-shouldering adj.; (sense 3 b) yoke-bodice, -collar, front, piece; yoke-arbor (see quot.); yoke-band (= Gr. ζυγόδεσμον), a band for fastening the yoke to the pole; † yoke-bone, the jugal or malar bone of the cheek, forming part of the zygomatic arch; † yoke-devils sb. pl. (nonce-wd.), companion devils; yoke-elm, a name for the hornbeam, from the wood being used for yokes, and the leaves resembling those of the elm; yoke-horse (= Gr. ζύγιος ἴππος), a horse yoked to another; yoke-line Naut., each of the two cords or ropes attached to a yoke (sense 4 b) for steering; yoke-skey S. Africa, = SKEY sb.2; yoke-steed = yoke-horse; yoke-stick, (a) = sense 1; (b) = sense 3; (c) a stick, or one of two crossed sticks, attached to an animal’s neck (cf. sense 2); yoke-strap, -thong = yoke-band; yoke-toed a., having the toes joined together in pairs, as scansorial birds; zygodactylous; yoke-tree, † (a) = yoke-elm; (b) the body or main part of a yoke.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Yoke-arbor, a form of double journal-box for pulley-spindles, in which a curved branch extending from one bearing to the other on each side of the pulley serves to protect the belt from being chafed or otherwise injured.
1585. Higins, Junius’ Nomencl., 270/2. Subiugium lorum,… the yoke thong, or *yoke band.
1848. Buckley, Iliad, 452. Then they brought out the yoke-band, nine cubits in length, along with the yoke.
1844. H. Stephens, Bk. Farm, II. 320. The *yoke-bars … are made of hard-wood.
1888. Bow-Bells Weekly, 4 May, 286/3. A serviceable navy serge *yoke bodice, with belt.
1615. Crooke, Body of Man, 755. The first paire of the ypper Lip … ariseth from the vtter seame of the Iugall or *yoke-bone.
1634. T. Johnson, trans. Parey’s Chirurg., V. xi. (1678), 117. There is a cleft under the yoke-bone ascending into the orb of the eye.
c. 725. Corpus Gloss. (Hessels), Int. 185, Iungula, *ʓeocboʓa.
1587. Mascall, Govt. Cattle, Oxen (1596), 73. If ye tie them as plow oxen be, with a sole and a with, which is made like a yoke bowe.
1891. Meredith, Horses of Achilles, 15, Poet. Wks. (1912), 560. All their lustrous manes … Right side and left of the yoke-ring tossed, to the breadth of the yoke-bow.
1906. Daily Chron., 5 April, 8/5. A *yoke collar of fine Irish lace.
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., II. ii. 106. Treason, and murther, euer kept together, As two *yoake diuels sworne to eythers purpose.
1687. Miège, Gt. Fr. Dict., II. *Yoke-elm, un Charme, sorte d’Arbre de bois dur.
1706. London & Wise, Retir’d Gard’ner, I. 261. The Gard’ner who has a fence of Yoke-Elms.
1768. T. Nugent, Trav. Germany, II. 89. A beech or elder, a yok-elm, an aspin and a crab.
1901. Levett-Yeats, Traitor’s Way, x. We had reined up under a huge yoke-elm.
1888. Bow-bells Weekly, 4 May, 286/3. Six chemises, made with pointed *yoke fronts.
1844. H. Stephens, Bk. Farm, III. 1181. The *yoke-geer of this cart.
1837. B. D. Walsh, Aristoph., Clouds, I. i. Neither you, sir, nor your *yoke-horse,… shall eat my goods.
1849. Cupples, Green Hand, xvi. The fat midshipman … watching me critically as I handled the *yokelines.
1585. Higins, Junius’ Nomencl., 269/1. Radius,… the yoke sticke: the yoke pin or *yoke peg.
1885. Letts’s Househ. Mag., 93/2. A *yoke piece of velveteen.
1819. Rees, Cycl., XXXIX. s.v. Yoking, The *yoke-ring and ox-chain.
1891. [see yoke-bow].
1895. K. Grahame, Golden Age, 42. The *yoke-shouldering village folk were wont to come to fill their clinking buckets.
1850. R. G. Cumming, Hunter’s Life S. Afr., ii. Passing through each end of the yoke, at distances of 18 inches from one another, are two parallel bars of tough wood about 18 inches in length; these are called *yoke-skeys. In inspanning, the yoke is placed on the back of the neck of the ox, with one of these skeys on either side.
1880. L. Wallace, Ben-Hur, 208. They termed the two next the pole *yoke-steeds.
c. 725. Corpus Gloss. (Hessels), O 108. Obicula, *ʓeocstecca.
1483. Cath. Angl., 427/1. A ȝoke styke, fisticulus.
1614. R. Tailor, Hog hath lost Pearl, Prol. Ovr long time rumor’d Hogge … is at length got loose, Leauing his seruile yoake-sticke to the goose.
1684. [Meriton]. Yorksh. Dial. 100 (E.D.S. No. 76). Yoakes and Bowes and Gad and Yoak-sticks.
1855. Robinson, Whitby Gloss., Yoke-stick, the wooden shoulder-bar for carrying the milk pails by suspension…. ‘As crooked as a yoke-stick,’ deformed. Also the wooden horseshoe-shaped collar with which oxen are yoked.
1837. B. D. Walsh, Aristoph., Knights, II. iii. May I die,… And be cut into *yoke-straps and traces.
1585. *Yoke-thong [see yoke-band].
1835. *Yoke-toed [see ZYGODACTYLIC].
1872. Coues, N. Amer. Birds, 199. The parrots … are yoke-toed.
1585. Higins, Junius’ Nomencl., 149. Carpinus,… a kind of tree, called in olde time the *yoke tree, the wood whereof was easie to be cleft.
1844. H. Stephens, Bk. Farm, II. 322. The draught-chains, hooked to the lever, and passed under the pulleys of the yoke-trees.
1890. Crawfurd, Round Cal. in Portugal, 32. One may see oxen and even cows—for they too do their share of *yoke-work—harnessed to the net.
