Some words sound virtually the same and also look similar, causing some of us to become confused. Although yoke and yolk are not actual homophones, their sounds are closely similar which makes some writers to mistake them for each other and interchange them. This post will help you understand the difference between these two terms.
The word yoke is most commonly used as a noun pertaining to “a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plow or cart that they are to pull,” “a frame fitted to a person’s shoulders to carry a load in two equal portions,” or “a bar by which the end of the tongue of a wagon or carriage is suspended from the collars of the harness.”
“For instance, he had to carry weight on his back in yokes and lugged a giant dumbbell in each hand during the farmers competition.”
The Frederick News Post“To win in Raleigh, Ferguson had to lift metal logs, run with a 500 lb. yoke on her back and deadlift a car as many times as possible in 60 seconds.”
CBC“The children took turns carrying a yoke on their back that had a pail attached to it on either end.”
The Redding Pilot
As a noun, it can also refer to “something that brings about pain, suffering, or a loss of freedom.”
“From there, nations living under the yoke of Brussels will be able to demand Uber obey rules on licensing and assurance that apply to other cabbies. “
ExpressUnbearable yoke of our lawmakers
The Nation Newspaper“All levels of government need to work together to improve access to treatment for people struggling under the yoke of drug abuse, she said.”
Sudbury.com
Although rare, it may also be used as a verb meaning “to put a yoke on a pair of animals or couple or attach with or to a yoke.”
“George had to care for the farmer’s three children, including getting them ready for and sending them off to school, doing the washing, ironing, cooking the meals, helping milk the cows morning and night and, in his spare time, yoking the horses and ploughing.”
Noosa News
On the other hand, the term yolk functions as a noun referring to “the yellow internal part of a bird’s egg, which is surrounded by the white, is rich in protein and fat, and nourishes the developing embryo” or “material stored in an animal ovum that supplies food to the developing embryo and consists chiefly of proteins, lecithin, and cholesterol.”
Recipe: Nadine Levy Redzepi’s Sugar-Cured Egg Yolk in a Meringue Cloud
San Francisco ChronicleTwitter Can’t Decide What To Think About This Egg Yolk Cappuccino
Refinery29Yolk of the matter: there could be pesticides in your egg
The New Indian Express
Now that we’ve discussed the differences between the words yoke and yolk, you should be able to distinguish between the two properly and used them correctly in your sentences. Remember that yoke refers to the device used on cattle or a burden to be carried while yolk is part of an egg.
