Stroke
Old English strācian ‘caress lightly’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch streek ‘a stroke’, German streichen ‘to stroke’, also to strike. The earliest noun sense ‘blow’ is first recorded in Middle English.
wiktionary
From Middle English stroke, strok, strak, from Old English strāc(“stroke”), from Proto-West Germanic *straik(“stroke”), from Proto-Germanic *straikaz(“stroke”), from Proto-Indo-European *streyg-(“stroke; to strike”). Cognate with Scots strak, strake, straik(“stroke, blow”), Middle Low German strēk(“stroke, trick, prank”), German Streich(“stroke”). In its British sense as a name for the slash⟨ / ⟩, a contraction of oblique stroke, a variant of oblique originally employed in telegraphy.
From Middle English stroken, straken, from Old English strācian(“to stroke”), from Proto-West Germanic *straikōn(“to stroke, caress”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian strookje(“to stroke; caress”), West Frisian streakje(“to stroke; caress”), German Low German straken, strieken, strakeln, striekeln(“to stroke; caress; fondle”), German streicheln(“to stroke, fondle”).
etymonline
stroke (n.)
"act of striking," c. 1300, probably from Old English *strac "stroke," from Proto-Germanic *straik- (source also of Middle Low German strek, German streich, Gothic striks "stroke"); see stroke (v.).
The meaning "mark of a pen" is from 1560s; that of "a striking of a clock" is from mid-15c. Sense of "feat, achievement" (as in stroke of luck, 1853) first found 1670s; the meaning "single pull of an oar or single movement of machinery" is from 1731. Meaning "apoplectic seizure" is from 1590s (originally the Stroke of God's Hand). Swimming sense is from 1800.
stroke (v.)
"pass the hand gently over," Old English stracian "to stroke," related to strican "pass over lightly," from Proto-Germanic *straik-, from PIE root *strig- "to stroke, rub, press" (see strigil). Figurative sense of "soothe, flatter" is recorded from 1510s. The noun meaning "a stroking movement of the hand" is recorded from 1630s. Related: Stroked; stroking.
