Hyke

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A dialect term for a woven wicker beehive or basket used to house bees ; to move about or journey from one place to another
2. An old regional word for a straw or wicker hive where bees are kept ; to go on a trek or wander somewhere on foot
3. A woven basket or shelter once used as a beehive in rural areas ; to make a journey or tramp across country

Etymology: "Hyke" is an alternative spelling of "haik," the loose white cloak or veil worn by many people in North Africa and the Middle East, and the spelling reflects how English speakers first took the word in. It comes from Arabic "ḥayk," and the Arabic term is what English writers were trying to render when they wrote it down. Because the word arrived by way of Arabic-speaking travelers, traders and soldiers rather than through a long chain of European languages, its path into English is more direct than most loanwords. The English forms "haik" and "hyke" were simply two attempts to represent the same Arabic sound in Roman letters, and both remain in use, with "haik" being the more common modern spelling.

Synonyms: hike, trek, tramp