Plural of neck; the body part connecting your head to your shoulders, or narrow passages of land or water.
From Old English 'hnecca,' related to the Proto-Germanic root meaning 'to turn' or 'to narrow.' The geographic meaning (a narrow strip of land) developed because of the narrow, connecting shape.
The word 'neck' describes both your body part and geography because both share that connecting, narrow quality—it's the same word doing double duty. This kind of metaphor helps us describe the world by comparing new things to familiar body parts.
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