Learn English – Origin of “kick”

etymology

I am analyzing an essay and I am trying to find the origin of the word "kick". The context it is used in is:

She kicks the ball with all her might.

Dictionary.com and Etymonline both say its origin is unknown.

Is its origin kiken?

Origin and Etymology of kick

Middle English kiken

First Known Use: 14th century

That is what Merriam Webster says, yet since most sites say it is of an "unknown origin" I am not sure kiken is the origin or maybe something else.

Does anybody know the origin of kick and maybe have some links they can point me to?

Best Answer

Without a doubt, Modern English "kick" comes from the Middle English word "kiken". For example, this quote from Bartholomaeus's De Proprietatibus Rerum (ME translation), 1398:

Whanne þe modir wasschiþ & kembiþ hem, þey [children] kyken & praunsen & putte wt feet & hondis.

I think this translates roughly to "When the mother washed and combed him, they [children] kick and prance and put with feet and hands."

The bigger question is where Middle English got the word. Unfortunately, the answer is we don't know for sure. Etymonline says:

late 14c., "to strike out with the foot," of uncertain origin, perhaps from Old Norse kikna "bend backwards, sink at the knees." "The doubts OED has about the Scandinavian origin of kick are probably unfounded" [Liberman]. Older sources guessed it to be from Celtic.

Here's what the OED says:

Middle English kike, kyke, of unknown origin. The Welsh cicio, often cited as the source, is from English (Prof. Rhŷs)

(So, Welsh cicio was derived from the word in English, not the other way around.)

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