Ducken

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. To bend low or crouch down quickly to avoid a blow or danger ; to give way and submit meekly to someone stronger
2. Lowering the body suddenly to dodge something overhead ; yielding humbly and cringing before a more powerful person
3. A German verb meaning to crouch out of harm's way ; a verb for bowing to authority and accepting subordination without resistance

Etymology: The German verb "ducken" means "to duck," "to crouch," or "to stoop," and it is a close relative of the English verb "duck," which shares the sense of lowering the head or body to avoid something. Both descend from an older Germanic root, and "ducken" keeps the physical act of bending down more fully than its English cousin does, often carrying a figurative sense of submitting or yielding, as in "sich ducken" (to cower or knuckle under). The Dutch "duiken," meaning "to dive," probably belongs to the same family. The sense of plunging downward links the two, though the exact early development of the root is uncertain. In English, the bare word "ducken" is rare, but its spelling appears inside the portmanteau "turducken," where "duck" is the middle layer of a dish made by stuffing one bird inside another.