Etymologically
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thick

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /θɪk/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English thikke, inherited from Old English þicce (“dense, solid; numerous”),[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *thiku-,[2] the source also of Dutch dik, German dick and Old Norse þykkr.[2][3][4] Watkins reconstructs it from Proto-Indo-European *tegu- (“thick”), the source also of Old Irish tiug and Welsh tew,[2][3][5] but Hoad calls the Germanic word of unknown origin.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having great extent between its opposite surfaces: about 888 in the OED, before 899 in Alfred's Boethius in Barnhart.[6][3]

Semantic evolution

Of fog and clouds it is from late Old English,[2] and of a person, stout and burly, from the mid-13th century.[2][6] Of heavy voices it is from the late 14th century.[2] The sense “stupid” is from the 1590s, and Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 2 says Poins's wit is “as thick as Tewkesbury mustard”.[2][7] From the sense “close together” came the colloquial “intimate, very friendly” (1756), hence thick as thieves (1833).[2][7] Through thick and thin is Middle English, and in the thick of is from the 1680s.[2] Lay it on thick is by 1840, and a bit thick, too much to bear, from 1884.[2][6]

Timeline

  • c. 888 – thick, not thin.[6]
  • mid-13th century – of a person, stout.[2]
  • 1590s – stupid.[2]
  • 1680s – in the thick of.[2]
  • 1756 – intimate.[2]
  • 1833 – thick as thieves.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Large in distance between opposite sides; not thin.
  2. Having a particular thickness: two inches thick.
  3. Growing or set close together; dense.
  4. Of a liquid, not flowing easily.
  5. Of fog or smoke, hard to see through.
  6. (informal) Stupid.
  7. (informal) Very friendly.
  8. Of an accent, very strong.

Noun

  1. The most active or intense part: in the thick of the fight.

Adverb

  1. Thickly, densely or heavily.

Word family

  • thickish
  • thickly
  • thick-knee
  • thick-skulled
  • thick-witted
  • thicket
  • thickhead
  • thickness
  • thicken
  • thickset

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 i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press