kick
/kɪk/
verb
Origin
Old English
ciccean — to kick, strike with the foot
Overview
Meaning Now
- with the foot, strike or push something away
- move abruptly or with force, as if by kicking
- start or propel something violently; in sports and informal use, to kick off or begin
Literal older meaning
to strike with the foot
Language path
Old English → Middle English → English
Earliest form
ciccean / cycgan (related early Germanic evidence is uncertain for the exact modern verb form)
Earliest period
Old English period
Journey
Kick is a very old everyday Germanic verb. Its core sense stayed remarkably stable, but English later extended it into many figurative uses, such as kicking off an event, kicking against rules, or getting a kick out of something.
Evolution
- Old English
ciccean / related forms
“to kick, strike with the foot”
Early Germanic evidence for the verb exists, though spellings vary and the exact ancestor is not fully certain.
- Middle English
kikken, kicchen, kicke
“to kick; to strike with the foot”
The form stabilizes with the hard /k/ spelling and the modern basic sense.
- Modern English
kick
“to strike with the foot; to propel or begin abruptly”
Develops many figurative and idiomatic uses, especially from the 16th century onward.
Connections
Word parts
kick
root
strike with the foot
Related across languages
Alemán
kicken
patear; chutar
Neerlandés
kicken
patear
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Related to kick
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.