Etymograph

English

bicker

Bicker comes from Middle English bikeren ‘to attack’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- ‘to break’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeg-1‘to break’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bikjaną1‘to attack, stab, hack, thrust’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bikkjan1‘to attack, stab, hack, thrust’reconstructed
  4. Old Dutchc. 500–1150*bikken1reconstructed
  5. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500bicken1‘to stab, thrust, attack’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bikeren1‘to attack’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1606bicker1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English bicker
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1606, Caius [i.e., The Historie of Flavius Vespatianus Augustus: “And at the field fought before Bebriacum, ere the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeg-Wiktionary, English bicker‘to break’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bikjanąWiktionary, English bicker‘to attack, stab, hack, thrust’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bikkjanWiktionary, English bicker‘to attack, stab, hack, thrust’reconstructed
  4. Old Dutchc. 500–1150*bikkenWiktionary, English bickerreconstructed
  5. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500bickenWiktionary, English bicker‘to stab, thrust, attack’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bikerenWiktionary, English bicker‘to attack’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1606bickerWiktionary, English bicker. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1606, Caius [i.e., The Historie of Flavius Vespatianus Augustus: “And at the field fought before Bebriacum, ere the…”

Formed from er

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- ‘to break’

back, bank, beach, bench, batch, baker, banquet, petite, baxter, petit, banco, banque, 8 more

through Proto-Germanic *bikjaną ‘to attack, stab, hack, thrust’

bitch, bichon, 3 more

Another origin of bicker

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500biker
  2. Scotsc. 1450–presentbicker
  3. Englishtodaybicker

Today it means

verb To quarrel in a tiresome, insulting manner.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bicker”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- / bicker

Shirt and support for this word