避く

Etymology 1
From.

Cognate with, , in turn cognate with , , and.

The sense appears to have developed as to put a space between things → to keep at a distance → to avoid.

This saku form is the classical form of modern.

Verb

 * 1) to avoid, to dodge

Etymology 2
From. Appears in the , completed some time after 759 CE.

Cognate with.

The sense appears to have developed as to step or pull to one side → to avoid, or to exclude by pushing off to the side.

This yoku form is the classical form of modern.

Verb

 * 1) to avoid, to dodge
 * 2) to preemptively avoid something: to prevent
 * 3) to push to the side, to exclude

Usage notes
This verb has exhibited three classical conjugation patterns in historical texts: where the verb stem ends in either -u or -i,  where the verb stem ends in -u, -a, -i, or -e, and  where the verb stem ends in either -u or -e. The shimo pattern arose in the or, later displacing the other two patterns to become the main form used in classical or literary Japanese.