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wicked (adj.)
c. 1200, extended form of earlier wick "bad, wicked, false" (12c.), which apparently is an adjectival use of Old English wicca "wizard" (see witch). Formed as if a past participle, but there is no corresponding verb. For evolution, compare wretched from wretch. Slang ironic sense of "wonderful" first attested 1920, in F. Scott Fitzgerald. As an adverb from early 15c. Related: Wickedly.
also from c. 1200
witch (n.)
Old English wicce "female magician, sorceress," in later use especially "a woman supposed to have dealings with the devil or evil spirits and to be able by their cooperation to perform supernatural acts," fem. of Old English wicca "sorcerer, wizard, man who practices witchcraft or magic," from verb wiccian "to practice witchcraft" (compare Low German wikken, wicken "to use witchcraft," wikker, wicker "soothsayer").
OED says of uncertain origin; Liberman says "None of the proposed etymologies of witch is free from phonetic or semantic difficulties." Klein suggests connection with Old English wigle "divination," and wig, wih "idol." Watkins says the nouns represent a Proto-Germanic *wikkjaz "necromancer" (one who wakes the dead), from PIE *weg-yo-, from PIE root *weg- "to be strong, be lively."
That wicce once had a more specific sense than the later general one of "female magician, sorceress" perhaps is suggested by the presence of other words in Old English describing more specific kinds of magical craft. In the Laws of Ælfred (c. 890), witchcraft was specifically singled out as a woman's craft, whose practitioners were not to be suffered to live among the West Saxons:
Ða fæmnan þe gewuniað onfon gealdorcræftigan & scinlæcan & wiccan, ne læt þu ða libban.
The other two words combined with it here are gealdricge, a woman who practices "incantations," and scinlæce "female wizard, woman magician," from a root meaning "phantom, evil spirit."
Another word that appears in the Anglo-Saxon laws is lyblæca "wizard, sorcerer," but with suggestions of skill in the use of drugs, because the root of the word is lybb "drug, poison, charm" (see leaf (n.)). Lybbestre was a fem. word meaning "sorceress," and lybcorn was the name of a certain medicinal seed (perhaps wild saffron). Weekley notes possible connection to Gothic weihs "holy" and German weihan "consecrate," and writes, "the priests of a suppressed religion naturally become magicians to its successors or opponents." Whatever the English word's origin, the use of a "poisoner" word for "witch, sorceress" parallels that of the Hebrew word used for "witch, sorceress" in the Levitical condemnation.
In Anglo-Saxon glossaries, wicca renders Latin augur (c. 1100), and wicce stands for "pythoness, divinatricem." In the "Three Kings of Cologne" (c. 1400) wicca translates Magi:
Þe paynyms ... cleped þe iij kyngis Magos, þat is to seye wicchis.
The glossary translates Latin necromantia ("demonum invocatio") with galdre, wiccecræft. The Anglo-Saxon poem called "Men's Crafts" (also "The Gifts of Men") has wiccræft, which appears to be the same word, and by its context means "skill with horses." In a c. 1250 translation of "Exodus," witches is used of the Egyptian midwives who save the newborn sons of the Hebrews: "Ðe wicches hidden hem for-ðan, Biforen pharaun nolden he ben."
Witch in reference to a man survived in dialect into 20c., but the fem. form was so dominant by 1601 that men-witches or he-witch began to be used. Extended sense of "old, ugly, and crabbed or malignant woman" is from early 15c; that of "young woman or girl of bewitching aspect or manners" is first recorded 1740. Witch doctor is from 1718; applied to African magicians from 1836.
At this day it is indifferent to say in the English tongue, 'she is a witch,' or 'she is a wise woman.' [Reginald Scot, "The Discoverie of Witchcraft," 1584]
wretch (n.)
Old English wrecca "wretch, stranger, exile," from Proto-Germanic *wrakjon "pursuer; one pursued" (source also of Old Saxon wrekkio, Old High German reckeo "a banished person, exile," German recke "renowned warrior, hero"), related to Old English wreccan "to drive out, punish" (see wreak). "The contrast in the development of the meaning in Eng. and German is remarkable" [OED]. Sense of "vile, despicable person" developed in Old English, reflecting the sorry state of the outcast, as presented in Anglo-Saxon verse (such as "The Wanderer"). Compare German Elend "misery," from Old High German elilenti "sojourn in a foreign land, exile."
wretched
shrewd
wickedness
*weg-
See all related words (6) >
Trends of wicked
adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.
More to Explore
shrewd
c. 1300, shreued, "wicked, depraved, malicious, evil," from shrewe "wicked man" (see shrew) + -ed. Compare crabbed from crab (n.), dogged from dog (n.), wicked from witch (n.), all from early Middle English. The weaker or neutral sense of "cunning, sly, artful, clever or keen-wit
virtuous
c. 1300, "characterized by vigor or strength; having qualities befitting a knight; valiant, hardy, courageous;" from Old French vertuos "righteous; potent; of good quality; mighty, valiant, brave" (12c.), from Late Latin virtuosus "good, virtuous," from Latin virtus "moral streng
severe
1540s, "rigorous in condemnation or punishment," from French severe (12c., Modern French sévère) or directly from Latin severus "serious, grave, strict, austere," which is of uncertain origin, but de Vaan supports the theory (also in Watkins) that it probably is a suffixed form P
vicious
late 14c., "unwholesome, impure, of the nature of vice, wicked, corrupting, pernicious, harmful;" of a text, "erroneous,...corrupt," from Anglo-French vicious, Old French vicios "wicked, cunning, underhand; defective, illegal" (Modern French vicieux...), from Latin vitiosus (Medieval Latin vicious) "faulty, full of faults, defective, corrupt; wicked, depraved," from vitium...
pernicious
early 15c., of a deed, "evil, wicked;" from 1520s as "having the property of destroying or being injurious," from Old French...
vile
late 13c., "morally repugnant; morally flawed, corrupt, wicked; of no value; of inferior quality; disgusting, foul, ugly;...
foe
deception"), perhaps from the same PIE source that yielded Sanskrit pisunah "malicious," picacah "demon;" Lithuanian piktas "wicked...
repellent
also repellant, "having the effect of repelling," 1640s, from Latin repellentem (nominative repelens), present participle of repellere (see repel). Originally of medicines that reduce tumors; the meaning "morally repelling, repulsive, distasteful, disagreeable" is recorded by 179
revolting
1590s, "rebellious, that revolts, given to revolt," present-participle adjective from revolt (v.). The sense of "repulsive" is from 1749 (implied in revoltingness), from the verb in a sense of "cause to turn away in abhorrence or disgust" (also "rise in repugnance" against, "turn
tally-ho
also tallyho, huntsman's cry to alert others that the game has been spotted, 1772, earlier in the name of a roistering character in English theater, Sir Toby Tallyho (Foote, 1756), apparently altered from French taiaut, cry used in deer hunting (1660s), from Old French taho, tiel
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Dictionary entries near wicked
why
wibble
Wicca
wich
wick
wicked
wickedness
wicker
wickerwork
wicket
widdershins
updated on September 28, 2017
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