Etymograph

English

wicked

Wicked comes from Middle English wikke ‘morally perverse, evil, wicked’, from Old English wicca ‘witch, wizard, sorcerer, magician, druid,…’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to separate (out as holy)’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-1‘to separate (out as holy)’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wik-nā́-ti ~ *wik-un-ánti1uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wikkōną2‘to practice sorcery’uncertain
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wikkōn3‘to practice sorcery’uncertain
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wikkō4‘necromancer, sorcerer’uncertain
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150wicca5‘witch, wizard, sorcerer, magician, druid, necromancer’uncertain
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wikke6as wicke, alteration‘morally perverse, evil, wicked’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wicked6
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1611wicked6

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *wikkōną
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *wikkōn
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *wikkō
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Old English wicca, which cites Kluge, OED
  5. 5 Wiktionary, Middle English wikke
  6. 6 Wiktionary, English wicked
  7. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *wikkōną‘to separate (out as holy)’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wik-nā́-ti ~ *wik-un-ántiWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *wikkōnąuncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wikkōnąWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *wikkōn‘to practice sorcery’uncertain
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wikkōnWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *wikkō‘to practice sorcery’uncertain
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wikkōWiktionary, Old English wicca, which cites Kluge, OED‘necromancer, sorcerer’uncertain
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150wiccaWiktionary, Middle English wikke‘witch, wizard, sorcerer, magician, druid, necromancer’uncertain
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wikkeWiktionary, English wickedas wicke, alteration‘morally perverse, evil, wicked’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wickedWiktionary, English wicked
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1611wickedWiktionary, English wicked. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the…”

The story

From Middle English wicked, wikked, an alteration of Middle English wicke, wikke (‘morally perverse, evil, wicked’). Possibly from an adjectival use of Old English wiċċa (‘wizard, sorcerer’), from Proto-West Germanic *wikkō (‘necromancer, sorcerer’), though the phonology makes this theory difficult to explain.disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it. Alternatively, perhaps related to English wicker, Old Norse víkja (‘to bend to, yield, turn, move’), Swedish vika (‘to bend, fold, give way to’), English weak.disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it. The "excellent, awesome" sense is an ameliorative semantic shift from the original sense of "evil, mischievous".

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to separate (out as holy)’

victory, province, victim, convince, weakness, conviction, victor, iconic, icon, wo, invincible, convict, witchcraft, eviction, weakly, vicar, wight, evict, vanquish, ancona, waw, wile, bewitch, 30 more

through Old English wicca ‘witch, wizard, sorcerer, magician, druid,…’

witch, 2 more

Today it means

adj Evil or mischievous by nature; morally reprehensible.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “wicked”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *wikkōną, Proto-West Germanic *wikkōn, Proto-West Germanic *wikkō, Old English wicca, Middle English wikke. 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 *weyk- / wicked

Shirt and support for this word