Etymology

flicker

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Today it means: An unsteady flash of light. Full definition →

Middle English flikeren ← Old English flicerian ← Proto-West Germanic *flikurōn
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flicker · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*flikurōn
  2. Old English · inherited fromflicerian
  3. Middle English · inherited fromflikeren“to flutter”
  4. English todayflicker

From Middle English flikeren (“to flutter”), from Old English flicerian, flicorian (“to flutter”), from Proto-West Germanic *flikurōn. Akin to Saterland Frisian flikkerje (“to flicker”), West Frisian flikkerje (“to flicker”), Dutch flikkeren (“to flicker, flutter”), German Low German flickern (“to light up, flash, flicker”). Compare Old English flacor (“flickering, fluttering”), German flackern (“to flicker, flutter”), Old English flēogan (“to fly”).

flicker · noun2

1808, American English, probably echoic of the bird's call, or from the white spotted plumage which appears to flicker. It is also true that the bird vigorously flicks away treebark, woodchips, and ground detritus while feeding, which may possibly explain the name.

flicker · noun3

From flick + -er.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.