Etymograph

English

pricket

Pricket comes from Middle English precat.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500precat1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1816pricket1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English pricket
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1816, John Keats: “he can stay / For the new-mown hay, /…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500precatWiktionary, English pricket
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1816pricketWiktionary, English pricket. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1816, John Keats: “he can stay / For the new-mown hay, /…”

Formed from prick + -et

Proto-Germanic *prikô

Proto-West Germanic *prikō

Old English prica ‘prick, (small) hole, perforation’

Middle English prik

English prick

The story

Earlier currency of the Middle English word is apparently implied by surnames and borrowings into Latin and Anglo-Norman.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Middle English precat

Today it means

noun A candle.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pricket”. 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 / Middle English precat / pricket

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