thick (English)
Where does "thick" come from?
The English adjective 'thick' developed from Middle English 'thikke'[1][5], which in turn comes from Old English 'þicce', meaning 'thick' or 'dense'[1][2]. Its ancestry reaches back through Proto-West Germanic '*þikkwī'[1][6] to the Proto-Germanic adjective '*þekuz'[1][2][3]. Ultimately, it derives from Proto-Indo-European '*tégus', meaning 'thick'[1][2][3][4].
Open questions
- The reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root form and early ancestor forms like '*tégus' and '*þekuz' are theoretical reconstructions rather than directly attested written words. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Full etymology tree
- thick (English), 'Relatively great in extent from one surface to the opposite in its smallest solid dimension.'
- inherited thikke (Middle English), 'thick, wide, broad'
- inherited þicce (Old English), 'thick'
- inherited *þikkwī (Proto-West Germanic), 'thick'
- derived *þekuz (Proto-Germanic), 'thick'
- inherited *tégus (Proto-Indo-European), 'thick'
- derived *(s)teg- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to cover'
- suffix *-us (Proto-Indo-European), 'Forms adjectives from Caland system roots.'
- inherited *tégus (Proto-Indo-European), 'thick'
- suffix *-ī (Proto-Germanic), 'Forms the nominative plural of neuter i-stem nouns.'
- derived *þekuz (Proto-Germanic), 'thick'
- inherited *þikkwī (Proto-West Germanic), 'thick'
- inherited þicce (Old English), 'thick'
- inherited thikke (Middle English), 'thick, wide, broad'
Ancestors
- thikke (Middle English)
- þicce (Old English)
- *þikkwī (Proto-West Germanic)
- *þekuz (Proto-Germanic)
- *tégus (Proto-Indo-European)
Cognates and doublets
- tyk (Danish)
- dik (Dutch)
- tjúkkur (Faroese)
- dick (German)
- þykkur (Icelandic)
- tykk (Norwegian Bokmål)
- tjukk (Norwegian Nynorsk)
- tiug (Old Irish)
- tjuk (Saterland Frisian)
- tjock (Swedish)
- tew (Welsh)
Descendants and derived words
- blood is thicker than water (English)
- come thick and fast (English)
- get through one's thick skull (English)
- have a thick head (English)
- hyperthick (English)
- in the thick of it (English)
- lay it on thick (English)
- paper-thick (English)
- semithick (English)
- slim-thick (English)
- spread it on thick (English)
- superthick (English)
Sources
- thick (English) - Wiktionary
- þicce (Old English) - Wiktionary
- þekuz (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
- tégus (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
- thikke (Middle English) - Wiktionary
- þikkwī (Proto-West Germanic) - Wiktionary
Updated September 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris