"The wind has wicked away the evening’s rain from the sand already!" said my girlfriend this morning as we walked on the beach after yoga class.

it is not often I learn an English word from her so today I’m sharing my excitement with the board for the discovery or a whole family of related words.

[to] wick means to carry away moisture by capillary action which leads to the sense of the noun: a thread stuck in a candle.  wicking is thus the material used for this thread.  the word originates from ME weke, wicke which meant to weave - so not knowing anything about candle-making I presumably candle wicks are weaved.

I imagine wicker furniture may also be related since the origins of that word are the Scandinavian vikker meaning willow (which presumably can be weaved) which itself derived from Old Norse veikr meaning weak (are willows weak?).

then there is [to] whicker (which my New World Dictionary defines as "to utter a partially stifled laugh; to neigh or whinny" but for which it provides no etymology), and, of course, the wickar‘s wife (anyone know this word)?

...and finally, does anyone know how the sense of wicked meaning evil came about?

Nice set of words. I always envision polartec fleece with this word, as that was the context in which I heard its verb form used first. Carppy sentence.

You will all figure it out I am sure.

Patricia/AgDrgn

Yep, Katy, it should be woven.  

I’m taking this to a new thread.

innna

From the Online Etymology Dictionary:

wicked: 1154, perhaps from adj. use of O.E. wicca "wizard." Slang ironic sense of "wonderful" is attested since 1920.

wicca: An O.E. masc. noun meaning "male witch," curiously taken by Gerald Gardner’s followers (c.1954) as an abstract noun meaning "witchcraft" and thus becoming the title of a modern pagan movement.

wicker: 1336, from a Scand. source akin to O.N. vikja "to move, turn." The notion is of pliant twigs.

In German, a Wicke is a sweet pea or vetch, a twining plant.

Perhaps vetch is also related. It derives from Latin vicia; perhaps akin to Latin vincire "to bind".

Ilka

Is the last one possibly related to invincible? (I haven’t taken any Latin, and as always am too lazy to go look it up.) After all, few people allow themselves to be bound unless they’ve been defeated. (Though some people are into that sort of thing…)

~Silver

On a whim, I checked out the origin of the name Vincent (following Ilka’s lead):

VINCENT   m   English, French, Dutch, Danish, Swedish
Pronounced: VIN-sent
From the Roman name Vincentius, which was from Latin vincere "to conquer". This was the name of several saints. The postimpressionist painter Vincent van Gogh was a famous bearer of this name.

And there’s your answer, too, Silver… Although probably vincere and vincire were related anyway.

-Tim

[quote author=KatyBr link=board=wordsuggest;num=1047850839;start=0#2 date=03/16/03 at 17:12:49]more punctiliousness, wouldn’t that be woven?  yes?  no?

glad someone picked up on that… it was a deliberate choice since weaved is less common.

see the Merriam definition.

[quote author=ilka link=board=wordsuggest;num=1047850839;start=0#4 date=03/16/03 at 17:35:29]O.E. wicca "wizard."

I did have a strong suspicion wicca was in there somewhere… just didn’t have evidence.  interesting however that it says "perhaps".

thx Ilka!

He weaved twigs into a trellis

Now I’m confused, shouldn’t that be He wove twigs into a trellis?

Why is it that I suspect this verb to be merely an attempt on the part of ekkis to get ‘round the censor ? How many four-letter words does he have up his sleeve (so to speak) ?...

Henri

[the now familiar mischievous grin returns to ekkis’ face]

I’m of two minds about continuing my harangues… it’s good to get people charged up but if they get ticked off it’s too much… so I’ll be sticking to filter-friendly words for a while

[quote author=Tim Ward link=board=wordsuggest;num=1047850839;start=0#6 date=03/17/03 at 06:44:58]And there’s your answer, too, Silver… Although probably vincere and vincire were related anyway.

That’s what I was asking about, in my roundabout way. Are ‘vincere’ and ‘vincire’ related?

Incidentally, Vincent is one of my favorite names, just for the sound and associations from a story rather than the meaning.  :)

~Silver

[quote author=ekkis link=board=wordsuggest;num=1047850839;start=0#13 date=03/18/03 at 14:06:53] ... I’m of two minds about continuing my harangues… it’s good to get people charged up but if they get ticked off it’s too much… so I’ll be sticking to filter-friendly words for a while

I consider my suspicion concerning your use of wick confirmed, but I hope you don’t believe that the latter ticked me off ! On the contrary, in this instance I was pleased to see

the now familiar mischievous grin [return] to ekkis’ face

Henri

Hi

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Go to an online furniture store site, not here: this site is for discussion of words and grammar. Sorry, but advertising and all that are related to it are not welcome.