English
ticking
Ticking comes from English tick ‘sheet, cover’.
- English1500–presenttick‘sheet, cover’
- Englishearliest quotation 1897ticking
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- English1500–presenttick‘sheet, cover’
- Englishearliest quotation 1897ticking
Earliest quotation: 1897, Rudyard Kipling, chapter 1: “Harvey saw with disgust that there were no sheets…”
A compound of tick ‘sheet, cover’ + -ing ‘material, collection’
Every English word from English tick
Today it means
noun A strong cotton or linen fabric used to cover pillows and mattresses.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / English tick / ticking