English
wiki
Wiki comes from Hawaiian wikiwiki ‘quick’, and goes back to Proto-Polynesian *witi.
- Proto-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*witireconstructed
- Hawaiianmodernwiki‘to be swift, to be speedy, to be quick’
- Hawaiian, derivedmodernwikiwiki‘quick’
- Englishearliest quotation 2006wiki
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*witireconstructed
- Hawaiianmodernwiki‘to be swift, to be speedy, to be quick’
- Hawaiian, derivedmodernwikiwiki‘quick’
- Englishearliest quotation 2006wiki
Earliest quotation: 2006, Deptford Tv, Deptford.TV Diaries: “Blogging, wiki-ing, coding are all activities that generate authorial…”
first attested First appearance in 1995 in PC Week (as stated in the etymology)
The story
Abbreviated from WikiWikiWeb, from Hawaiian wikiwiki (‘quick’) + English web.
Every English word from Proto-Polynesian *witi
Today it means
noun A collaborative website which can be directly edited merely by using a web browser, often by anyone who has access to it.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Polynesian *witi / wiki