*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of blick

Perhaps onomatopoeic; perhaps an error for, or a nonce alteration of, blink or click; perhaps a continuation of Middle English bliken (compare blicker), which may have survived in dialect despite not being attested in pr

3 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 3 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
verb

To shine, gleam. · To make, or cause to make, a soft, crisp sound.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Perhaps onomatopoeic; perhaps an error for, or a nonce alteration of, blink or click; perhaps a continuation of Middle English bliken (compare blicker), which may have survived in dialect despite not being attested in print for 500 years.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "onomatopoeic",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "nocap": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "onomatopoeic"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "nonce"
      },
      "expansion": "nonce"
    },
    {
      "name": "noncog",
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "bliken"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English bliken"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "blink",
      "blink#English"
    ],
    [
      "click",
      "click#English"
    ],
    [
      "bliken",
      "bliken#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "blicker",
      "blicker#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To shine, gleam.",
        "To make, or cause to make, a soft, crisp sound."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive",
        "ambitransitive",
        "nonce-word"
      ],
      "recordId": "bc387d80948e1f76263d134a6d28c7b4fac4079d0715f61844dd580f837bd104",
      "rawRecordSha256": "306cf49d5e7e885f92f4897ba713cf4b72f13dbc64e21a4a676d48389701b59b",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 2200081
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

The brightening or iridescence appearing on silver or gold at the end of the cupelling or refinishing process.

verb

Of gold or silver, to exhibit blick.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From German Blick (“look, glance, twinkle, flash”), from Middle High German blic, from Old High German blik, blich, from Proto-West Germanic [Term?], from Proto-Germanic *blikiz (“shine, appearance, look”), related to *blīkaną. Cognate with Dutch blik, Danish blik, Icelandic blik (“gleam, sheen”), Old English blice (“sheen, denuded site”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Borrowed-form mentionBlickde
  • Derivation mentionblicgmh
  • Derivation mentionblikgoh
  • Derivation mention*blikizgem-pro
  • Cognate mentionbliknl
  • Cognate mentionblikda
  • Cognate mentionblikis
  • Cognate mentionbliceang
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "de",
        "3": "Blick",
        "4": "",
        "5": "look, glance, twinkle, flash"
      },
      "expansion": "German Blick (“look, glance, twinkle, flash”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmh",
        "3": "blic"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle High German blic"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "goh",
        "3": "blik"
      },
      "expansion": "Old High German blik"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic [Term?]"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*blikiz",
        "4": "",
        "5": "shine, appearance, look"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *blikiz (“shine, appearance, look”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "blik"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch blik"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "blik"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish blik"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "blik",
        "3": "",
        "4": "gleam, sheen"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic blik (“gleam, sheen”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "blice",
        "3": "",
        "4": "sheen, denuded site"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English blice (“sheen, denuded site”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "Blick",
      "Blick#German"
    ],
    [
      "blic",
      "blic#Middle_High_German"
    ],
    [
      "blik",
      "blik#Old_High_German"
    ],
    [
      "blich",
      "blich#Old_High_German"
    ],
    [
      "*blikiz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/blikiz"
    ],
    [
      "*blīkaną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/blīkaną"
    ],
    [
      "blik",
      "blik#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "blik",
      "blik#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "blik",
      "blik#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "blice",
      "blice#Old_English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "The brightening or iridescence appearing on silver or gold at the end of the cupelling or refinishing process."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "971f662ff45577b1d83f1a0945e1d53a5c7067d6c2253ffff258eec903edd208",
      "rawRecordSha256": "bbd4c4888fe46d83ca649443a63e381cdccc758d603e8a756121ca730ab0c8aa",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 2200082
    },
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "Of gold or silver, to exhibit blick."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "recordId": "c89748b2d890261a32cfecf3cf6679cd472276e1c892e37de5ddd3adf00103d7",
      "rawRecordSha256": "bcf1999977639ca2157fa5a83f89335f92750e27730ab5b7924abbfbbd86bb7c",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 2200083
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 4

Original entry ↗
noun

A pistol.

verb

To shoot up (fire bullets at).

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Probably from replacing the initial letter C of click with the letter B in Blood slang.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "from",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "click"
      },
      "expansion": "click"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "click",
      "click#English"
    ],
    [
      "Blood",
      "Blood#Noun"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A pistol."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Multicultural-London-English",
        "slang"
      ],
      "recordId": "1f3ab402090f869fb5a11ba7ba44005b9cc4209e73575fdd6f54c61567350182",
      "rawRecordSha256": "1b7d38009a9eab9a1a76a1b35e305ae8ce3d51266a8562bc1807122507b8313e",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 2200085
    },
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To shoot up (fire bullets at)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Multicultural-London-English",
        "slang",
        "transitive"
      ],
      "recordId": "79a78f60b4942fc1249bda0170f43c68ff64668ee4cbd36782ce1214408eb24f",
      "rawRecordSha256": "b3ca5519a4e93e4231105e04e73701896a201295575714d446b3530ced3f456b",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 2200086
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for blick →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-YmxpY2s