Elk
late 15th century: probably from Old English elh, eolh, with substitution of k for h .
wiktionary
From Middle English elk, from Old English eolc, eolh(“elk”), from Proto-Germanic *elhaz, *algiz(“elk”) (compare Low German Elk, German Elch, Norwegian elg, Swedish älg), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁élḱis, *h₁ólḱis (compare Polish łoś, Russian лось(losʹ), Vedic Sanskrit ऋश्य(ṛ́śya, “antelope”), variant of *h₁elh₁én (compare German Elen, Tocharian A yäl, Tocharian B ylem(“gazelle”), Lithuanian élnis(“stag”), Armenian եղնիկ(ełnik, “doe, hind”)), from *h₁el-(“deer”).
elk (plural elks)
etymonline
elk (n.)
late Old English elch, from Old Norse elgr or from an alteration of Old English elh, eolh (perhaps via French scribes), or possibly from Middle High German elch (OED's suggestion), all from Proto-Germanic *elkh- (source also of Old High German elaho). The modern word "is not the normal phonetic representative" of the Old English one [OED].
The Germanic words are related to the general word for "deer" in Balto-Slavic (such as Russian losu, Czech los; also see eland), from PIE *olki-, perhaps with reference to the reddish color from root *el- (2) "red, brown" (in animal and tree names); compare Sanskrit harina- "deer," from hari- "reddish-brown." Greek alke and Latin alces probably are Germanic loan-words. Applied to similar-looking but unrelated animals in North America. Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks founded N.Y.C. 1868, originally a society of actors and writers.
