Etymograph

English

kick

Kick comes from Middle English kyken, from Old Norse kikna ‘to sink at the knees’, from Proto-Germanic *kaikaz ‘bent backwards’, of uncertain origin.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kaikaz‘bent backwards’reconstructed
  2. Old Norsec. 800–1350kikna‘to sink at the knees’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500kyken‘to strike out with the foot’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1890kick

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kaikaz‘bent backwards’reconstructed
  2. Old Norsec. 800–1350kikna‘to sink at the knees’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500kyken‘to strike out with the foot’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1890kick

Earliest quotation: 1890, Jacob August Riis, A Raid on the Stale-beer Dives: “A kick of his boot-heel sent the door flying…”

The story

From Middle English kyken (‘to strike out with the foot’), from Old Norse kikna (‘to sink at the knees’) and keikja (‘to bend backwards’) (compare Old Norse keikr (‘bent backwards, the belly jutting forward’)), from Proto-Germanic *kaikaz (‘bent backwards’), of uncertain origin.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *kaikaz

Today it means

verb To strike or hit with the foot or other extremity of the leg.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *kaikaz / kick

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