Etymograph

English

thick

Thick comes from Old English þicce, from Proto-Germanic *þekuz, from Proto-Indo-European *tégus ‘thick’, from *(s)teg- ‘to cover’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)teg-1‘to cover’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tégus1‘thick’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þekuz1‘thick’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þikkwī1‘thick’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150þicce1‘thick’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thikke1‘thick’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590thick1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English thick
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto III: “Through the thicke they heard one rudely rush.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)teg-Wiktionary, English thick‘to cover’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tégusWiktionary, English thick‘thick’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þekuzWiktionary, English thick‘thick’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þikkwīWiktionary, English thick‘thick’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150þicceWiktionary, English thick‘thick’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thikkeWiktionary, English thick‘thick’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590thickWiktionary, English thick. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto III: “Through the thicke they heard one rudely rush.”

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Today it means

adj Relatively great in extent from one surface to the opposite in its smallest solid dimension.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “thick”. 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 *(s)teg- / thick