*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of lick

From Middle English likken, from Old English liccian, from Proto-West Germanic *likkōn, from Proto-Germanic *likkōną (“to lick”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵʰ- (“to lick”). Sense evolution towards violence unclear; no

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 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 ↗
noun

The act of licking; a stroke of the tongue. · The amount of some substance obtainable with a single lick. · A quick and careless application of anything, as if by a stroke of the tongue. · A place where animals lick minerals from the ground.

verb

To stroke with the tongue. · To lap; to take in with the tongue. · To beat with repeated blows. · To defeat decisively, particularly in a fight.

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

From Middle English likken, from Old English liccian, from Proto-West Germanic *likkōn, from Proto-Germanic *likkōną (“to lick”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵʰ- (“to lick”). Sense evolution towards violence unclear; not paralleled in any other Germanic language. Cognates Cognate with Dutch lekken, likken (“to lick”), German lecken (“to lick”), Vilamovian łaekia, łakia, łȧḱkja (“to lick”), Yiddish לעקן (lekn, “to lick”), French lécher (“to lick”), Friulian lecâ (“to lick”), Italian leccare (“to lick”), Lombard leccà (“to lick”), Norman litchi (“to lick”), Occitan lecar (“to lick”); also Faroese and Icelandic sleikja (“to lick”), Breton leat (“to lick”), Irish and Scottish Gaelic ligh (“to lick”), Welsh llyfu (“to lick”), Latin lingō (“to lick”), Ancient Greek λείχω (leíkhō, “to lick up”), Latvian làizît (“to lick”), Lithuanian laižyti (“to lick”), Bulgarian ли́жа (líža, “to lick”), Czech lízat (“to lick”), Macedonian лиже (liže, “to lick”), Polish lizać (“to lick”), Russian лиза́ть (lizátʹ, “to lick”), Serbo-Croatian ли́зати, lízati (“to lick”), Slovene lizati (“to lick”), Ukrainian лиза́ти (lyzáty, “to lick”), Armenian լիզել (lizel, “to lick”), Central Kurdish لستن (listin, “to lick”), Northern Kurdish alastin, alêstin, alistin, alîstin (“to lick”), Persian لیسیدن (lēsīdan / lisidan, “to lick”), Sanskrit लिह् (lih), रिह् (rih, “to lick; to eat”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

This page abbreviates 11 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

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

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*leyǵʰ-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "likken"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English likken"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "liccian"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English liccian"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*likkōn"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *likkōn"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*likkōną",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *likkōną (“to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*leyǵʰ-",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *leyǵʰ- (“to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "col-top",
      "args": {
        "1": "2",
        "2": "cog"
      },
      "expansion": "Cognates"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "lekken"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch lekken"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "lecken",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "German lecken (“to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "wym",
        "2": "łaekia"
      },
      "expansion": "Vilamovian łaekia"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "yi",
        "2": "לעקן",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Yiddish לעקן (lekn, “to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fr",
        "2": "lécher",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "French lécher (“to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fur",
        "2": "lecâ",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Friulian lecâ (“to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "it",
        "2": "leccare",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Italian leccare (“to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "lmo",
        "2": "leccà",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Lombard leccà (“to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nrf",
        "2": "litchi",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Norman litchi (“to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "oc",
        "2": "lecar",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Occitan lecar (“to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fo,is",
        "2": "sleikja",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Faroese and Icelandic sleikja (“to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "br",
        "2": "leat",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Breton leat (“to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ga,gd",
        "2": "ligh",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Irish and Scottish Gaelic ligh (“to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "cy",
        "2": "llyfu",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Welsh llyfu (“to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "lingō",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin lingō (“to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "grc",
        "2": "λείχω",
        "t": "to lick up"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek λείχω (leíkhō, “to lick up”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "lv",
        "2": "làizît",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Latvian làizît (“to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "lt",
        "2": "laižyti",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Lithuanian laižyti (“to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "bg",
        "2": "ли́жа",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Bulgarian ли́жа (líža, “to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "cs",
        "2": "lízat",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Czech lízat (“to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "mk",
        "2": "лиже",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Macedonian лиже (liže, “to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "pl",
        "2": "lizać",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Polish lizać (“to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ru",
        "2": "лиза́ть",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Russian лиза́ть (lizátʹ, “to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sh",
        "2": "ли́зати"
      },
      "expansion": "Serbo-Croatian ли́зати"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sl",
        "2": "lizati",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Slovene lizati (“to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "uk",
        "2": "лиза́ти",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Ukrainian лиза́ти (lyzáty, “to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "hy",
        "2": "լիզել",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Armenian լիզել (lizel, “to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ckb",
        "2": "لستن",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Central Kurdish لستن (listin, “to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "kmr",
        "2": "alastin"
      },
      "expansion": "Northern Kurdish alastin"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fa",
        "2": "لیسیدن",
        "tr": "lēsīdan / lisidan",
        "t": "to lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Persian لیسیدن (lēsīdan / lisidan, “to lick”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sa",
        "2": "लिह्"
      },
      "expansion": "Sanskrit लिह् (lih)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "likken",
      "likken#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "liccian",
      "liccian#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*likkōn",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/likkōn"
    ],
    [
      "*likkōną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/likkōną"
    ],
    [
      "*leyǵʰ-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/leyǵʰ-"
    ],
    [
      "lekken",
      "lekken#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "likken",
      "likken#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "lecken",
      "lecken#German"
    ],
    [
      "łaekia",
      "łaekia#Vilamovian"
    ],
    [
      "łakia",
      "łakia#Vilamovian"
    ],
    [
      "łȧḱkja",
      "łaḱkja#Vilamovian"
    ],
    [
      "לעקן",
      "לעקן#Yiddish"
    ],
    [
      "lécher",
      "lécher#French"
    ],
    [
      "lecâ",
      "lecâ#Friulian"
    ],
    [
      "leccare",
      "leccare#Italian"
    ],
    [
      "leccà",
      "leccà#Lombard"
    ],
    [
      "litchi",
      "litchi#Norman"
    ],
    [
      "lecar",
      "lecar#Occitan"
    ],
    [
      "Faroese",
      "sleikja#Faroese"
    ],
    [
      "sleikja",
      "sleikja#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "leat",
      "leat#Breton"
    ],
    [
      "Irish",
      "ligh#Irish"
    ],
    [
      "ligh",
      "ligh#Scottish_Gaelic"
    ],
    [
      "llyfu",
      "llyfu#Welsh"
    ],
    [
      "lingō",
      "lingo#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "λείχω",
      "λείχω#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "làizît",
      "laizīt#Latvian"
    ],
    [
      "laižyti",
      "laižyti#Lithuanian"
    ],
    [
      "ли́жа",
      "лижа#Bulgarian"
    ],
    [
      "lízat",
      "lízat#Czech"
    ],
    [
      "лиже",
      "лиже#Macedonian"
    ],
    [
      "lizać",
      "lizać#Polish"
    ],
    [
      "лиза́ть",
      "лизать#Russian"
    ],
    [
      "ли́зати",
      "лизати#Serbo-Croatian"
    ],
    [
      "lízati",
      "lizati#Serbo-Croatian"
    ],
    [
      "lizati",
      "lizati#Slovene"
    ],
    [
      "лиза́ти",
      "лизати#Ukrainian"
    ],
    [
      "լիզել",
      "լիզել#Armenian"
    ],
    [
      "لستن",
      "لستن#Central_Kurdish"
    ],
    [
      "alastin",
      "alastin#Northern_Kurdish"
    ],
    [
      "alêstin",
      "alêstin#Northern_Kurdish"
    ],
    [
      "alistin",
      "alistin#Northern_Kurdish"
    ],
    [
      "alîstin",
      "alîstin#Northern_Kurdish"
    ],
    [
      "لیسیدن",
      "لیسیدن#Persian"
    ],
    [
      "लिह्",
      "लिह्#Sanskrit"
    ],
    [
      "रिह्",
      "रिह्#Sanskrit"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "The act of licking; a stroke of the tongue.",
        "The amount of some substance obtainable with a single lick.",
        "A quick and careless application of anything, as if by a stroke of the tongue.",
        "A place where animals lick minerals from the ground."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "47d16fa3ed2c724154ee683736ef0096763fc786bcf156cb4d79635fc233dc2f",
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      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 1723566
    },
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To stroke with the tongue.",
        "To lap; to take in with the tongue.",
        "To beat with repeated blows.",
        "To defeat decisively, particularly in a fight."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive",
        "colloquial",
        "dated"
      ],
      "recordId": "92d3f66ba6c2d49f3ec8a93c77d204b0e147f121050614630cb4184937ccfd28",
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      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 1723565
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  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
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    "lexicalSenses": 11,
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  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

An instance or opportunity to earn money fast, usually by illegal means, thus a heist, drug deal etc. or its victim; mostly used in phrasal verbs: hit a lick, hit licks

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

Back-formation from hit a lick, which see. Ultimately from liquor.

Inspect preserved source fields

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

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "back-form",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hit a lick"
      },
      "expansion": "Back-formation from hit a lick"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "hit a lick",
      "hit a lick#English"
    ],
    [
      "liquor",
      "liquor#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "An instance or opportunity to earn money fast, usually by illegal means, thus a heist, drug deal etc. or its victim; mostly used in phrasal verbs: hit a lick, hit licks"
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "d42188776deb65209c71b5a93287710dfc5997060040c8f4630abd681b3d740f",
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}

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 lick →

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-bGljaw