Etymograph

English

quickener

Quickener comes from Middle English quykener.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500quykener1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1922quickener1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English quickener
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1922, The Seven against Thebes: “Where, through the deep, rich soil enwound, The waters…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500quykenerWiktionary, English quickener
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1922quickenerWiktionary, English quickener. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1922, The Seven against Thebes: “Where, through the deep, rich soil enwound, The waters…”

Formed from quicken + -er

Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- ‘to live’

Middle English quikenen ‘to become alive again after dying’

English quicken

Every English word from Middle English quykener

Today it means

noun One who, or that which, quickens, hastens, or speeds up an object or action.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “quickener”. 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 quykener / quickener

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