Etymologically
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prick

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Pronunciation

Etymology

The noun is inherited from Middle English prikke, also prik,[2][3][4] inherited from Old English prica, also pricca and price, a point, dot or small mark,[5][6][7][8] from Proto-Germanic *prikô.[9] The verb is priken, prician,[2][10][3][5] from *prikōną,[10] through Proto-West Germanic *prikōjan.[2] The word is shared with the languages around the North Sea: compare West Frisian prik, Dutch prik and prikken, Middle Low German pricke, Icelandic prik, Danish prik and Swedish prick;[2][11][3][12] the Scandinavian forms are probably partly from Middle Low German.[11][2] Its further origin is unknown according to most dictionaries.[2][5][6][13][9] The OED suggests a form of the Germanic base of pike with an inserted r, or an expressive origin;[11] Merriam-Webster compares Old Norse pikka (“to peck, hack”) and pick.[4] The adjective, of ears standing erect, is short for prick-eared.[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

A small hole or mark made by piercing; also a dot or a punctuation mark: in Ælfric's Grammar, about 1000, where prica glosses Latin punctus.[11][10][7] In Old English it also meant a tiny part of something, and a fraction of an hour,[11][7] and the verb prician meant to pierce with a sharp point and to mark with dots.[2][11]

Semantic evolution

The oldest sense is the mark made by a sharp point, and the word was once used where point and dot are now used, as in prick-song, music written down with dots.[14] From the 13th century it also meant a pointed object: a thorn, a goad for oxen, a spur.[6][5][2] The goad gave the biblical kick against the pricks (Acts 9:5, in the translation of 1382), to resist a superior force to one's own harm.[2] The verb was used figuratively from about 1200 for causing distress or remorse,[2][10] and in the late 14th century it came to mean urging on, as a rider spurs a horse.[2][6] In Middle English the noun could also mean an instant of time, as in prike of deth, the moment of death.[2][11] To prick up one's ears is recorded from the 1580s, of animals with pointed ears;[2] prick-eared dogs and horses appear from the early 15th century.[2] The sexual senses are old: Chaucer used the verb for intercourse in the Reeve's Tale,[2][15] and Green's Dictionary of Slang finds the noun for the penis in Withals's dictionary of 1556, while Etymonline dates it to the 1590s.[15][2] Partridge thought it was standard English until it became taboo around 1700.[15] In the 16th and 17th centuries women used my prick as a term of endearment for a man, and a 1671 translation of Erasmus's Colloquies suggested putting my sweetheart instead.[13][16][15] As a term of abuse for a contemptible man it is recorded from 1922 in Green's Dictionary of Slang and by 1929 in Etymonline.[15][2] In Scots and northern dialect prick meant to pin or fasten, and in Lanarkshire to copy music in manuscript.[17]

Timeline

  • c. 1000 – Old English prica, a point, dot or puncture, in Ælfric.[10][11]
  • before 1200 – Middle English noun, a point in space, and verb, to pierce, in the Ancrene Riwle.[10]
  • c. 1225 – a pricking, a sharp pain, a goad.[10]
  • 1340 – an instant of time (obsolete by 1631).[11]
  • 1382 – kick against the pricks, in the Wycliffite Bible.[2]
  • c. 1386 – verb, to have sex with, in Chaucer.[15]
  • a1449 – adjective, of ears, erect and pointed.[11]
  • 1550s – a pointed weapon, a dagger.[2]
  • 1556 – the penis.[15]
  • 1580s – to prick up one's ears.[2]
  • 1598 – a woman's term of endearment for a man.[15]
  • 1922 – a contemptible or stupid man.[15]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A small hole or mark made by something sharp; a puncture: the prick of a needle on the skin.[18][4][5]
  2. The act of piercing, or the sharp, stinging feeling it causes.[18][5]
  3. A sudden sharp feeling of sorrow or remorse: a prick of conscience.[18][5][19]
  4. A pointed object such as a thorn or a goad; now mainly in kick against the pricks, to resist uselessly.[18][5][2]
  5. The footprint of a hare.[18][4][5]
  6. (vulgar slang) The penis.[18][15][5]
  7. (vulgar slang) A man regarded as contemptible or very unpleasant.[18][15]
  8. (obsolete) A tiny part or amount; a jot.[11][5][4]

Verb

  1. To pierce slightly with a sharp point: She pricked her thumb on a rose.[18][19][5]
  2. To cause a sharp mental pang, as of remorse: Guilt pricked him for weeks.[18][19][5]
  3. To mark or outline something with small punctures.[18][19]
  4. To transplant seedlings into a bed or larger container; usually prick out.[18][19]
  5. To raise the ears erect, as an animal does when alert.[18][19] Prick up one's ears: to start listening closely.[18][19][2]
  6. To feel a tingling or prickling sensation.[18][5]
  7. (archaic) To urge a horse on with spurs; to ride fast.[18][5]

Adjective

  1. Of an animal's ears, standing erect and pointed.[4][11]

Word family

  • pricker
  • prickingly
  • pinprick
  • pricket
  • pricky
  • prick-eared
  • prickle
  • prickly

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
  8. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  9. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  12. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  13. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  14. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  16. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  17. ^ 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)
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  19. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins