Etymology

quicksand

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Today it means: Wet sand that appears firm but in which things readily sink, often found near rivers or coasts. Full definition →

Middle English quyksande ← Old English cwecesand
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromcwecesand“quicksand”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromquyksande
  3. English todayquicksand

From Middle English quyksande, from Old English cwecesand (“quicksand”), equivalent to quick (“living”) + sand. Cognate with Swedish kvicksand (“quicksand”), Icelandic kviksandur, kviksyndi (“quicksand”). More at quick, sand.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.