quick

views updated

quick (arch.) living, alive OE.; lively, mobile, active; rapid, swift XIII; functionally active XIV. OE. cwic(u) = OS. quik (Du. kwik), OHG. quek (G. keck bold), ON. kvikr :- Gmc. *kwikwaz, rel. to Goth. *qius (in pl. qiwai):- *kwiwaz, f. IE. base *gwi- repr. also in L. vīvus, Lith. gývas, OSl. z̄ivū, OIr. biu, beo, Skr. jīvá- living, Gr. bíos.
Hence quick sb. the q., sensitive flesh in the body. XVI. quicken give life to; receive life XIII; make quick or quicker XVII. In earliest use — ON. kvikna (intr.). Comps. quicklime lime that has been burned but not slaked. XIV. quicksand bed of loose wet sand. XV. quickset live slips set in the ground as for a hedge XV; also adj. XVI. quicksilver mercury. OE. cwicseolfor = Du. kwiksilver, OHG. quecsilbar (G. quecksilber). ON. kviksilfr; tr. L. argentum vīvum ‘living silver’.

More From encyclopedia.com