Wicht

See also: wicht

German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vɪçt/
  • Audio(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪçt

Etymology 1

From Middle High German wicht, from Old High German wiht (“creature, thing”), from Proto-Germanic *wihtiz (“essence, object”), from Proto-Indo-European *wekti- (“cause, sake, thing”). Cognate with Dutch wicht, English wight, Swedish vätte, and Icelandic vættur.

Noun

Wicht m, n (genitive Wichts or Wichtes, plural Wichte or Wichter)

  1. a small creature, particularly a goblin, sprite, leprechaun, kobold
  2. (of a child, mildly pejorative) a cheeky one; a rascal
  3. (of an adult, more pejorative) one who is mean but unimportant
Usage notes
  • In contemporary German, Wicht is masculine with a plural Wichte. The neuter gender and the plural Wichter are archaic. Compare also etymology 2 below.
Declension
Synonyms

Etymology 2

The same word as above, but in this use chiefly from Middle Low German wicht, from Old Saxon wiht.

Noun

Wicht n (genitive Wichtes or Wichts, plural Wichter)

  1. (archaic, dialectal, northern and western Germany, not pejorative) a child or young person, chiefly and in some regions exclusively: a girl
    • 1934, Josef Winkler, Der alte Fritz: ein niederdeutscher Volksmythus, p. 335:
      Als das Holz mächtig flammte und die Wichter und Jungs herumsprangen und sangen, auf einmal rief einer: »De olle Fritz! De olle Fritz mit de lange Nierse!«
      When the wood was burning with mighty flames and the girls and boys were jumping around, singing—all of a sudden someone yelled [in Low German]: “Old Fritz! Old Fritz with the long nose!”
Declension
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