park [ME] Park is from Old French parc, from medieval Latin parricus. It is probably of Germanic origin, related to German Pferch ‘pen, fold’, which is also the source of paddock [M16th]. The word was originally a legal term for land held by royal grant for the keeping of game animals: the area was enclosed and therefore distinct from a *forest or chase, and (also unlike a forest) had no special laws or officers. A military sense ‘space occupied by artillery, wagons, and stores, in an encampment’ [L17th] is the origin of the verb ‘to park a vehicle’ [M19th]. The British slang term parky, ‘cold’, dates from the 1890s. It probably comes from perky, ‘lively, sharp’ (see perk).