Etymograph

English

dick

Dick comes from the name Dick, a pet form of Richard; the name came to mean ‘everyman’, giving the word its other senses.

  1. English1500–presentRichard1
  2. English1500–presentDick1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1989dick1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English dick
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1989, Car Thief: “Homeboy, throw in the towel / Your girl got…”.

Lineage

  1. English1500–presentRichardWiktionary, English dick
  2. English1500–presentDickWiktionary, English dick
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1989dickWiktionary, English dick. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1989, Car Thief: “Homeboy, throw in the towel / Your girl got…”

The story

The name Dick came to mean everyman, whence the word acquired its other meanings.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Explore everything descended from Richard →

Another origin of dick

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déḱm̥‘ten’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*dekam‘ten’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Brythonicc. 100 BCE–500 CE*deg‘ten’reconstructed
  4. Cumbricmodern*deg‘ten’reconstructed
  5. Englishtodaydick

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Today it means

noun A male person.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “dick”. 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 / English Richard / dick