sicken
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English sekenen, equivalent to sick + -en. Cognate with Danish sygne (“to pine”), Swedish sjukna (“to fall ill; become sick”), Norwegian sykne, Icelandic sjúkna (“to sicken; become sick”).
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
sicken (third-person singular simple present sickens, present participle sickening, simple past and past participle sickened)
- (transitive) To make ill.
- The infection will sicken him until amputation is needed.
- (intransitive) To become ill.
- I will sicken if I don’t get some more exercise.
- 1631, Francis [Bacon], “(please specify |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:
- The judges that sat upon the jail, and numbers of those that attended, […] sickened upon it and died.
- (transitive) To fill with disgust or abhorrence.
- His arrogant behaviour sickens me.
- (sports) To lower the standing of.
- 2007, Euan Reedie, Alan Shearer: Portrait Of A Legend - Captain Fantastic, →ISBN:
- Whenever I get booed by opposition fans it only makes me more determined to sicken them.
- 2011, Scott Burns, Walter Smith the Ibrox Gaffer: A Tribute to a Rangers Legend, →ISBN:
- But instead of giving up, the Rangers team managed to grab a dramatic later winner from Kenny Miller to sicken St Mirren and lift the cup
- (intransitive) To be filled with disgust or abhorrence.
- 1607, William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra:
- Mine eyes did sicken at the sight.
- (intransitive) To become disgusting or tedious.
- 1770, Oliver Goldsmith, The Deserted Village:
- The toiling pleasure sickens into pain.
- (intransitive) To become weak; to decay; to languish.
- 1734, Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man:
- All pleasures sicken, and all glories sink.
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
Anagrams edit
German edit
Etymology edit
From Central Franconian secke (“to piss”), from Proto-West Germanic *saikijan, whence also archaic German seichen.
The Central Franconian -ck- may be irregular or may be from a geminated variant Proto-Germanic *sikkōną (compare German sickern). The figurative sense “to be annoyed, to complain” is also found in cognate Dutch zeiken. Compare English pissed off.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
sicken (weak, third-person singular present sickt, past tense sickte, past participle gesickt, auxiliary haben)
- (regional, colloquial, western Germany) to piss
- Ich geh ma’ eben sicken.
- I’m gonna take a piss.
- (regional, colloquial, western Germany) to be annoyed; to be pissed off; to complain
- Lass ihn! Der is’ den ganzen Tag schon am Sicken.
- Leave him! He’s been pissed off all day.
Usage notes edit
- The figurative sense is used chiefly in the colloquial progressive with am (as above).
Conjugation edit
infinitive | sicken | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | sickend | ||||
past participle | gesickt | ||||
auxiliary | haben | ||||
indicative | subjunctive | ||||
singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
present | ich sicke | wir sicken | i | ich sicke | wir sicken |
du sickst | ihr sickt | du sickest | ihr sicket | ||
er sickt | sie sicken | er sicke | sie sicken | ||
preterite | ich sickte | wir sickten | ii | ich sickte1 | wir sickten1 |
du sicktest | ihr sicktet | du sicktest1 | ihr sicktet1 | ||
er sickte | sie sickten | er sickte1 | sie sickten1 | ||
imperative | sick (du) sicke (du) |
sickt (ihr) |
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Derived terms edit
Further reading edit
Swedish edit
Etymology edit
Contracted from se (“to look, see”) and vicken, which was the older pronunciation of vilken (“what, which”).
Pronoun edit
sicken c sicket n sicka, sickna pl
- (colloquial) what a; expresses a (often strong) feeling such as surprise, disappointment; liking, disliking
- Sicken dag!
- What a day!
Synonyms edit
References edit
- sicken in Svensk ordbok (SO)
- sicken in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
- sicken in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)