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dick

Etymology and origin of the English word dick

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English has two common words spelled dick: the “fellow” and the “penis”, from the name Dick, and the “detective”, perhaps a shortening of detective.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

dick1 fellow, penis

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1553
Ultimate origin
English (Richard)

Etymology

It is the nickname Dick, a rhyming form of Rick, short for Richard,[5][6][2] one of the commonest English names.[5] The SOED calls it a playful alteration of Ric- in Anglo-Norman Ricard.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Fellow, lad, man”, from the 1550s;[5] the OED's first record of the pet name used for any man is from 1553.[7][6]

Semantic evolution

Since the name was a synonym for “fellow”, most of its slang senses are probably very old but hard to find in the records.[5] Green has the “man, fellow” sense from 1592, in Greene, and in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost.[8] The meaning “penis” is attested from 1891 in Farmer's slang dictionary, possibly British army slang;[5][7] the New Partridge has an American example from 1888.[9] The verb, “to bungle, waste time” and “to cheat, treat badly”, often with off or around, is American by 1969;[5] the New Partridge dates “to exploit, harm” to 1964.[9] The adjective “mean, offensive” is from 2000.[8] In dialect, compounds such as dick-ass, a jackass, and dick-bird, a cock bird, used it for the male of an animal.[10]

Timeline

  • 1553 – the name used for any man.[7][6]
  • 1592 – a fellow.[8]
  • 1891 – the penis.[5][7]
  • 1964 – verb, to exploit.[9]
  • 1969 – to bungle, waste time.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (chiefly British) A fellow; a guy.
  2. (vulgar slang) The penis.
  3. (vulgar slang) A contemptible man.

Verb

  1. (vulgar slang) To bungle or waste time, often with around.
  2. (vulgar slang) To cheat or treat badly.

Word family

  • dickhead

dick2 detective

Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Clipping
First attested
1905
Ultimate origin
English (detective)

Etymology

It is perhaps a shortened variant of detective,[5][2][3] or from the obsolete slang dick “to look”,[2][3] from Romani dik- (“to look”), ultimately from Hindi dekh- “to look”.[8] Green notes that a link with the comic-strip Dick Tracy (created 1931) is chronologically impossible.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A detective, a police officer: from 1905 in Green, as American slang,[8] 1908 in the OED and Etymonline.[7][5]

Semantic evolution

It is chiefly American, of plain-clothes detectives and the police generally.[8][7] The earlier underworld verb dick, “to look at”, was British (1864),[8] and to keep dick, “to keep watch”, survives in Ulster and Antrim.[8][10]

Timeline

  • 1864 – dick, to look.[8]
  • 1905 – a police officer.[8]
  • 1908 – a detective.[7][5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (slang) A detective or police officer.
  • Richard
  • detective
  • dicky

Usage notes

The phrase to take one's dick, “to swear”, is from a shortening of declaration (1861).[7][3][8] Dick Whittington, three times Lord Mayor of London (died 1423), is the hero of an old story of a poor boy who made his fortune with a cat.[5]

References

  1. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  2. ^ a b c d Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  9. ^ a b c Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge
  10. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
Cite this entry

“Dick.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/dick. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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