sicker

sicker · adjective¹

1. Old English · inherited fromsēocra“sicker”
2. Middle English · inherited fromsiker
3. English todaysicker

Inherited from Middle English siker, sikker, sykkere, secre, seccre, from Old English sēocra (“sicker”), equivalent to sick + -er.

sicker · adjective, adverb²

1. Latin · derived fromsēcūrus“secure”
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*sikur“free, secure”
3. Old English · inherited fromsicer
4. Middle English · inherited fromsiker
5. English todaysicker

From Middle English siker, from Old English sicer, sicor, from Proto-West Germanic *sikur (“free, secure”), from Latin sēcūrus (“secure”, literally “without care”). Doublet of sure and secure.

sicker · verb³

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*sīką“slow running water”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*sikarōną“to trickle”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*sikarōn
4. Old English · inherited fromsicerian“to ooze, seep”
5. Middle English · inherited from*sikeren
6. English todaysicker

Inherited from Middle English *sikeren (attested only as sikeriez (“(it) trickles, (it) leaks, (it) oozes”)), from Old English sicerian (“to ooze, seep”), from Proto-West Germanic *sikarōn, from Proto-Germanic *sikarōną (“to trickle”), from Proto-Germanic *sīką (“slow running water”). Cognate with German Low German sickern (“to seep”), German sickern (“to seep, trickle”). Akin also to English sitch.

Words from the same roots