wikke

Dutch

Alternative forms

• wieke, wik

Etymology

From Middle Dutch wicke, from Old Dutch *wikka, from Proto-West Germanic *wikkjā, from Latin vicia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋɪ.kə/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: wik‧ke
• Rhymes: -ɪkə

Noun

wikke f (plural wikkes or wikken, no diminutive)

1. vetch, leguminous plant of the genus Vicia

Derived terms

• bonte wikke
• heggenwikke
• ringelwikke
• voederwikke
• vogelwikke

Further reading

• wikke on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^nl

Middle English

Alternative forms

• wicke, wike, wick, wik, wyk, wykke, wycke, wyke, wikked

Etymology

Perhaps from an adjectival use of Old English wicca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwik(ə)/

Adjective

wikke (comparative wicker)

1. evil, morally wrong, wicked
   • late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Miller's Tale, The Canterbury Tales, line 3483-3486:

     ‘Iesu Crist, and seynt Benedight,
     Blesse this hous from every wikked wight,
     For nightes verye, the white pater-noster!
     Where wentestow, seynt Petres soster?’

     ‘Jesus Christ and Saint Benedict,
     Bless this house from every wicked creature,
     For evil spirits of the nights, the white pater-noster!
     Where went thou, Saint Peter's sister?’

2. sinful, depraved
3. malicious, destructive
4. harmful, damaging
5. rowdy, fierce, fear-inducing
6. harmful, injurious
7. challenging, difficult
8. bad, of poor quality
9. deprived, miserly
   • late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Man of Law's Tale, The Canterbury Tales, line 118-119:

     ‘Alle the dayes of povre men ben wikke;’
     Be war therfor, er thou come in that prikke!

     ‘All the days of poor men are painful;’
     Beware, therefore, before thou come to that point!

Descendants

• English: wicke (obsolete)
• Scots: wick

References

• “wik(ke, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 11 April 2018.

Noun

wikke

1. evil, badness
2. challenge, hardness

References

• “wik(ke, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 11 April 2018.

Adverb

wikke

1. wickedly, evilly
2. mightily

References

• “wik(ke, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 11 April 2018.