wicked

wicked · adjective, adverb, noun¹

1. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*wikkō“necromancer, sorcerer”
2. Old English · derived fromwiċċa“wizard, sorcerer”
3. Middle English · derived fromwicke
4. Middle English · inherited fromwicked
5. English todaywicked

From Middle English wicked, wikked, an alteration of Middle English wicke, wikke (“morally perverse, evil, wicked”). Of uncertain origin. Possibly from an adjectival use of Old English wiċċa (“wizard, sorcerer”), from Proto-West Germanic *wikkō (“necromancer, sorcerer”), though the phonology makes this theory difficult to explain. Alternatively, perhaps related to English wicker, Old Norse víkja (“to bend to, yield, turn, move”), Swedish vika (“to bend, fold, give way to”), English weak. The "excellent, awesome" sense is an ameliorative semantic shift from the original sense of "evil, mischievous". Compare similar semantic development in terrific and sick.

wicked · verb, adjective²

See wick.

wicked · adjective³

See wick.

Words from the same roots