The story
- Middle English · inherited fromhyghwhele
- English todayhickwall
From Middle English hyghwhele; also highwale (1500s) or highawe (1600s). Rarely attested before the sixteenth century, making the original form difficult to trace. Probably imitative of the bird's cry; compare yaffle (“green woodpecker”). Possibly influenced by witwall, woodwall.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.