English
dicker
Dicker comes from Middle English diker ‘measure of ten’, from Late Latin dacra ‘a dicker’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥ ‘ten’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déḱm̥1‘ten’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dekem1reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdecem2‘ten’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdecuria2‘a ten of something’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEdacra2‘a dicker’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500diker2‘measure of ten’
- Englishearliest quotation 1848dicker2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin decem
- 2 Wiktionary, English dicker
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1848, James Fenimore Cooper: “Then, the white men who penetrated to those semi-wilds…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déḱm̥Wiktionary, Latin decem‘ten’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dekemWiktionary, Latin decemreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdecemWiktionary, English dicker‘ten’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdecuriaWiktionary, English dicker‘a ten of something’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEdacraWiktionary, English dicker‘a dicker’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dikerWiktionary, English dicker‘measure of ten’
- Englishearliest quotation 1848dickerWiktionary, English dicker. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1848, James Fenimore Cooper: “Then, the white men who penetrated to those semi-wilds…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥ ‘ten’
ten, century, cent, hundred, decade, den, sen, hectare, diner, tenfold, deca, denier, dwt, 50 more
through Latin decem ‘ten’
Today it means
verb To bargain, haggle or negotiate over a sale.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “dicker”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin decem. 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 *déḱm̥ / dicker