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rick

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Pronunciation

rick1 haystack

Etymology

The stack is Middle English reke, reek, inherited from Old English hrēac,[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *hraukaz,[3][2] which also gave Old Norse hraukr, Frisian reak and Dutch rook “heap”;[3][2][5] it is perhaps related to ridge.[3][2][5] Hoad calls it of unknown origin.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A stack of hay, corn or straw: 900 in Barnhart and the OED.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Especially a regularly built stack, thatched to keep off the rain.[3][6][7] A heap or pile in general is from 1606.[6] The verb, to stack into ricks, is from 1623.[2][6] Rick-burning was a form of rural protest, and the rickyard a farm's stackyard.[6]

Timeline

  • 900 – a haystack.[2][6]
  • 1606 – a heap or pile.[6]
  • 1623 – to stack into ricks.[2][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A large stack of hay, straw or corn, often thatched against the weather.

Verb

  1. To pile hay or corn into ricks.

rick2 sprain

Etymology

The sprain is probably a variant of wrick “to sprain”,[4][8] perhaps from Middle English wrikken “to move unsteadily”;[5] the NODE calls it of dialect origin.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

To sprain or wrench a limb: 1798 in the OED,[6] while MWU dates it to 1638.[5]

Semantic evolution

The noun, a slight sprain, especially in the neck or back, is from 1854.[6][8]

Timeline

  • 1798 – to sprain.[6]
  • 1854 – a sprain.[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. (British) To sprain or wrench slightly: rick one's neck.

Noun

  1. A slight sprain.

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press