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wick¹

  • /ˈwɪk/
  • /ˈwɘk/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -ɪk

Where it comes from

The noun is derived from Middle English wek, weke, wicke (“fibrous cord drawing fuel to flame of a candle, etc.; material used to make this object”), from Old English wēoce (“wick”), from Proto-West Germanic *weukā (“flax bundle; wick”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *weg- (“to weave”).

It has been suggested that noun etymology 1, noun sense 2 (“penis”) is derived from Hampton Wick, used as rhyming slang for prick. If so, that sense should be placed under etymology 2.

The verb is derived from the noun.

cognates

* Dutch wiek (“wick; wing; blade, propeller”)

* German Wieche (“wick; wisp”)

* Swedish veke (“wick”)

* West Frisian wjok, wjuk (“wing”)

noun wicks

  1. countable A braid or bundle of fibre or other porous material (now generally twisted or woven cotton) in a candle, kerosene heater, oil lamp, etc., that draws up a liquid fuel (such as melted tallow or wax, or oil) at one end, to be ignited at the other end to produce a flame. Trim the wick fairly short, so that the flame does not smoke.
  2. uncountable Synonym of wicking (“the material of which wicks (etymology 1, noun sense 1) are made”). There liues vvithin the very flame of loue / A kind of weeke or ſnufe that vvill abate it, […]

    Similar: wicking

  3. broadly, countable Any piece of porous material that conveys liquid by capillary action; specifically (medicine), a strip of gauze placed in a wound, etc., to absorb fluids.
  4. countable, euphemistic, slang Often in dip one's wick: the penis. His wick was stone stiff.

verb wicks · wicking · wicked

  1. transitive Of a material (especially a textile): to convey or draw off (liquid) by capillary action. The fabric wicks perspiration away from the body.
  2. intransitive Of a material: to convey or draw off liquid by capillary action.
  3. intransitive Chiefly followed by through or up: of a liquid: to move by capillary action through a porous material. The moisture slowly wicked through the wood.

wick²

  • /ˈwɪk/
  • /ˈwɘk/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -ɪk

Where it comes from

From Middle English wik, wike, wich, wicke (“dwelling, home; building or land, probably enclosed, in which work is done; area, region, territory; city, town; hamlet, village”), from Old English wīc (“dwelling place, abode, lodging; temporary dwelling place, camp; place where a thing remains; town, village”), and then probably:

* from Latin vīcus (“row of houses; street; quarter, neighbourhood; hamlet, village; municipal section or ward; farm”), from Proto-Italic *weikos (“village”); and/or

* from Proto-West Germanic *wīhs (“burgh, village; colony, settlement; dwelling”), from Proto-Germanic *wīhsą (“settlement; village”);

both ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyḱ- (“to enter in; to settle; settlement”). Doublet of vicus and -wich.

cognates

* Ancient Greek οἶκος (oîkos, “house”) (whence English eco-)

* Dutch wijk (“quarter, district”)

* Old Frisian wik

* Old High German wîch, wih (“village”) (modern German Weichbild (“municipal area”))

* Old Saxon wic (“village”)

noun wicks

  1. England A hamlet or village; also, a town. And by report, there vvere eight thouſand Gaules there ſlaine: the reſt abandoned the vvarre, and ſlipt every one into their ovvne vvickes and villages.
  2. East Anglia, England, Essex A farm; specifically, a dairy farm. Note a fearme [farm] in the North parts is called a Tacke, in Lancaſhire a Fermeholt, in Eſſex a Wike.
  3. England, obsolete An enclosed piece of land; a close.

wick³

  • /ˈwɪk/
  • /ˈwɘk/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -ɪk

Where it comes from

A variant of quick.

adjective wicker · more wick · wickest · most wick

  1. England, Northern England, Yorkshire Synonym of quick (“alive, living; also, active, lively”). Well! yo must know I were in th' Infirmary for a fever, and times were rare and bad; and there be good chaps there to a man, while he's wick, whate'er they may be about cutting him up at after.

    Similar: quick

noun wicks

  1. England, UK, Yorkshire, countable, dialectal A maggot.
  2. England, UK, Yorkshire, countable, dialectal, uncountable The growing part of a plant nearest to the roots. Fed close? Why, it’s eaten into t’ hard wick.
  3. England, UK, Yorkshire, countable, dialectal, in plural The part of the root of a weed that remains viable in the ground after inadequate digging prior to cultivation.
  4. England, UK, Yorkshire, dialectal, obsolete, uncountable Life; also, liveliness.

wick⁴

  • /ˈwɪk/
  • /ˈwɘk/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -ɪk

Where it comes from

From Late Middle English wike, wyke (“corner of part of the body”), from Old Norse *vík (“angle, bend, corner”) (attested in munnvík (“corner of the mouth”)), from víkja (“to move, bend, curve; to retreat”) (related to Old Norse vikna (“to cave in, yield”)), probably from Proto-Germanic *wīkwaną (“to cease; to yield”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃weyg-, *weyg- (“to bend, turn; to wind”).

noun wicks

  1. England, dialectal, obsolete A angle or corner; specifically, a corner of the eye or mouth. [H]ee vvould therefore haue you to make ſome expert Horſe farrier, to ſlit vp the vveekes of your Horſes mouth, equallie on both ſides of his cheekes, vvith a ſharpe rayſor, and then to ſeare it vvith a hot yron, and ſo heale it in ſuch ſorte, as the ſydes thereof may no more grovv together, but app
  2. England, abbreviation, dialectal, obsolete Short for wick-tooth (“a canine tooth”).
  3. England, dialectal, obsolete A grove; also, a hollow.

wick⁵

  • /ˈwɪk/
  • /ˈwɘk/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -ɪk

Where it comes from

Probably borrowed from Scots wick (“(noun) shot in which a bowl or stone is aimed at another so that one or other is deflected at an angle towards the tee, cannon; (verb) to strike (a bowl or curling stone) in such a manner; to (attempt to) reach the tee in this manner”), The Scots noun is probably derived from Middle English wike, wyke (“corner of part of the body”); the verb from Old Norse víkja (“to move, bend, curve; to retreat”): see further at etymology 4.

noun wicks

  1. England A shot where the played bowl or stone touches a stationary bowl or stone just enough that the former changes direction; a cannon.
  2. England Synonym of port (“a narrow opening between other players' bowls or stones wide enough for a delivered bowl or stone to pass through”).

    Similar: port

verb wicks · wicking · wicked

  1. England, transitive To strike (a stationary bowl or stone) with one's own bowl or stone just enough that the former changes direction; to cannon. He vvas the king of a' the Core, / To guard, or dravv, or vvick a bore, […]
  2. England, intransitive To strike a stationary bowl or stone with one's own bowl or stone just enough that the former changes direction; to cannon.

wick⁶

  • /ˈwɪk/
  • /ˈwɘk/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -ɪk

Where it comes from

Possibly from Middle English *wik (compare Old English wīc (“small bay, bight; creek, inlet”)), or from Old Norse vík (“bay; small creek, inlet”) (in place names; compare *vík (“angle, bend, corner”), attested in munnvík (“corner of the mouth”)), from Proto-Germanic *wīkō (“bay; fjord, inlet”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyg- (“to bend, turn; to wind”), *weyk- (“to bend, curve”).

noun wicks

  1. England, Northern England, Scotland An inlet, such as a creek or small bay. The power thou dost covet / O'er tempest and wave, / Shall be thine, thou proud maiden, / By beach and by cave,— / By stack and by skerry, by noup, and by voe, / By air and by wick, and by helyer and gio, / And by every wild shore which the northern winds know, / And the northern tides lave.

wick⁷

  • /ˈwɪk/
  • /ˈwɘk/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -ɪk

Where it comes from

Probably a clipping of wicker.

noun wicks

  1. England, countable A basket made of wickers (“flexible branches or twigs of a plant such as willow woven together”); a creel. A captive fish still fills the anxious eyes / And willow-wicks lie ready for the prize; […]
  2. England, uncountable Wickers collectively; also, synonym of wickerwork (“wickers woven together”).

Wick⁸

Where it comes from

From Old Norse vík (“bay, inlet”), from Proto-Germanic *wīkō.

proper noun

  1. A town in north-eastern Caithness, Highland council area, Scotland (OS grid ref ND3650).
  2. A river in Caithness, Highland council area that flows through the town into Wick Bay on the North Sea; in full, the Wick River.

Wick⁹

Where it comes from

From Old English wīc (“dairy farm”).

proper noun Wicks

  1. countable, uncountable A hamlet in Luppitt parish, East Devon district, Devon (OS grid ref ST1703).
  2. countable, uncountable An eastern suburb of Bournemouth in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Dorset (OS grid ref SZ1951).
  3. countable, uncountable A village in Wick and Abson parish, South Gloucestershire district, Gloucestershire (OS grid ref ST7072).
  4. countable, uncountable A hamlet in Brent Knoll parish, Somerset, previously in Sedgemoor district (OS grid ref ST3253)
  5. countable, uncountable A hamlet in Curry Rivel parish, Somerset, previously in South Somerset district (OS grid ref ST4026).
  6. countable, uncountable A hamlet in Stogursey parish, Somerset, previously in Somerset West and Taunton district (OS grid ref ST2144).
  7. countable, uncountable A northern suburb of Littlehampton, Arun district, West Sussex (OS grid ref TQ0203).
  8. countable, uncountable A village in Downton parish, south Wiltshire (OS grid ref SU1621).
  9. countable, uncountable A village and civil parish in Wychavon district, Worcestershire (OS grid ref SO9645).
  10. countable, uncountable A village and community in Vale of Glamorgan borough county borough, Wales (OS grid ref SS9272).
  11. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States.
  12. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Tyler County, West Virginia, United States.
  13. countable A surname from Old English.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: taper, lamp, petrol, gasoline, fuse, lock, strand, bag, locket, bed, hair, bit, braid, piece, cookie, cracker

Translations

Every language

noun bundle of porous material in a candle, etc., that draws up a liquid fuel at one end, to be ignited at the other end to produce a flame; any piece of porous mate

Españolmatula, mecha, pabilo, pábilo, torcida
한국어등심 deungsim, 심지 simji
日本語ろうそくの芯 rōsoku no shin, 芯 shin, 灯心 tōshin
中文燈芯 /灯芯 dēngxīn, 燈心 /灯心 dēngxīn, 炷 zhù, 燭心 /烛心 zhúxīn
हिन्दीबाती bātī, बत्ती battī, वर्तिका vartikā
Kiswahiliukope, utambi
Portuguêsmecha, pavio
Françaismèche, mèche de bougie
DeutschDocht, Dacht, Kerzendocht
Italianolucignolo, stoppino
Ελληνικάφιτίλι fitíli
Românăfitil, muc
Русскийфити́ль fitílʹ
Tiếng Việtbấc, bấc đèn
العربيةفَتِيل fatīl, فَتِيلَة fatīla
עבריתפְּתִילָה ptilá

verb (transitive) of a material: to convey or draw off (liquid) by capillary action; (intransitive) to convey or draw off liquid by capillary action

Españolabsorber, alejar

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MLA

"wick." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/wick. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

wick. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/wick

Chicago

"wick." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/wick.

BibTeX
@misc{wick_2026,
  title = {wick},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/wick},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}