"W" Word Origins

wicked

Middle English

From Middle English wikke ("morally bad"), of uncertain origin, possibly linked to an old word for a sorcerer.

wickedly

Origin

From wicked + the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

wickedness

Middle English

From Middle English wikkednesse, from wicked + -ness.

wicker

Middle English

From Middle English wiker, related to a Scandinavian word for willow.

wicket

French

From Old Northern French wiket, ultimately from an Old Norse word meaning "to turn" or "yield", related to modern French guichet.

Wickham

Middle English

From Middle English Wicham, Wikham, from Old English wīċ (“village”) + hām (“homestead”). Doublet of Wycombe.

Wid

Origin

Variant of with.

widdershins

Origin

First use appears c. 1513, from Middle Low German weddersins (also wēder-, -sinnes), from wed(d)der- (“wither-, against, opposite”) + genitive of sin (“direction, way”).

widdle

Origin

Likely an informal, softened variant of piddle or wee, used mainly in speaking to or about young children.

wide

Old English

From Old English wīd ("wide, vast, distant"), from an ancient root meaning "to separate" — the same root that gives us the word divide.

widely

Origin

From wide + the adverb suffix -ly.

widen

Origin

From wide + the verb-forming suffix -en.

widener

Origin

From widen + the agent suffix -er.

wideness

Origin

Inherited from Middle English wydnesse, from Old English wīdnes (“width, wideness”), equivalent to wide + -ness.

widening

Origin

The -ing form of widen, used as an adjective or noun.

widescreen

Origin

From wide + screen.

widespread

Origin

From wide + spread, describing something spread out over a broad area.

widget

Origin

Coined by American playwright George S. Kaufman in 1924 in his play Beggar on Horseback (1924). The preface to the 1924 play credits an earlier German work from 1911 where there is an actor Elisabeth Wigge.

widow

Old English

From Old English widuwe, from a very old Indo-European root meaning "to separate" — related to the word wide.

widowed

Origin

From the verb widow plus the past-participle ending -ed.

widower

Middle English

From Middle English widwer, formed from widow plus the masculine suffix -er.

width

Origin · 1500

From wide plus the suffix -th (as in "length" from "long"), first recorded around the 16th century.

widthen

Origin

From width + -en (verbal suffix).

Wie

Chinese

From Korean Wie (Wie), from 위 (wi), from 魏, from Chinese 魏.

wield

Old English

From Old English wealdan ("to rule, control"), from a Germanic root meaning "to rule" — related to the older sense of the word "wield" as "to govern".

wiener

German

A shortening of German Wienerwurst, meaning "Vienna sausage", after the city where this type of sausage originated.

wife

Old English

From Old English wīf, an old Germanic word originally meaning simply "woman", which later narrowed in English to mean specifically a married woman.

wifelet

Origin

From wife + -let (diminutive suffix). Sense 3 (“long-term girlfriend; mistress”) is said to have been coined in the 1960s by Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath (1932–2020) in reference to his numerous mistresses.

wifey

Origin

A playful, affectionate form of "wife" formed by adding the informal "-y" ending, the same pattern as "mommy" or "hubby."

wiffleball

Origin

From (onomatopoeia) whiff (“to strike, to strikeout”) + ball. Not derived from whiffle, though both derive from same onomatopoeic sources, namely a sound of wind.

wifty

Origin

From *wift + -y. First element is of unknown origin.

wig

French

Shortened from "periwig," itself adapted from the French perruque. The "to scold" sense may come from old expressions like "flip one's wig."

Wiggins

Origin · 1997

An altered form of "wiggings," related to "wig" in the sense of being nervous; popularised by the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 1997.

wiggle

Middle English

From Middle English wiglen, likely borrowed from Middle Dutch wigelen ("to wiggle"), related to words meaning "to rock" like a cradle.

wiggler

Origin

From wiggle + -er.

wiggly

Origin

Formed from "wiggle" plus the adjective ending "-y."

wiggy

Origin

From the phrase "wig out" plus the "-y" adjective ending.

wight

Old English

From Old English wiht ("thing, creature"), an ancient word related to Dutch and German words for "child" or "creature."

wigwam

Origin

Borrowed from an Eastern Algonquian word (Abenaki wigwôm or Penobscot wigwom) meaning "house."

Wii

Origin

A marketing name chosen as a homophone of "we," with the two lowercase "i" letters meant to suggest two people standing side by side.

wiki

Origin · 1995

From Hawaiian wikiwiki ("quick"), shortened from "WikiWikiWeb," the name of the first wiki software created in 1995.

Wikipedia

Origin · 2001

A blend of "wiki" (a collaboratively editable site) and "encyclopedia," coined by Larry Sanger in 2001.

Wilberforce

Old English

From an Old English place name meaning "ford of a man called Wilburh."

Wilbur

Origin

From an Old English female given name Wilburg, from wil (“will”) + burh (“fortress”).

Wilby

Origin

Various origins: * The village in Norfolk is named with Old English welig (“willow”) + Old Norse bý (“farmstead”). * The village in Northamptonshire is named with the Old Norse personal name Villi + bý (“farmstead”). * The village in Suffolk is named with Old English welig (“willow”) + bēag (“ring, circle”).

wilco

Origin

A military radio blend of "will comply," shortened for fast, clear voice communication.

Wilcock

Origin

Will + -cock (“a medieval diminutive suffix”)

Wilcox

Origin

From Wilcock + -s (“the patronymic suffix”).