Wick

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /wɪk/

Definitions

1. A cylindrical piece of material that draws up liquid, often used in lamps or candles to produce flame
2. A core element within an object designed to facilitate burning or illumination
3. A strip of absorbent fabric that conducts fluid for lighting or heating purposes

Etymology: The candle wick is older than the candle's flame it carries, and its name once belonged to a completely different idea. Old English "wēoce" meant the same thing as modern "wick," a fibrous cord that draws fuel up to a flame, and it traces back to a Proto-West Germanic word for a flax bundle. The root may go back to an Indo-European verb meaning "to weave," which fits a wick made from twisted fibres. The noun's cousins in Dutch and German keep the sense alive, with Dutch "wiek" also meaning "wing" or "propeller blade." Wick is not to be confused with the other "wick," which means a village or dwelling. That word, Old English "wīc," came from Latin "vīcus," meaning a row of houses or a quarter of a town, and it is related to the Greek "oîkos," meaning house, which gives English the prefix "eco-." The two words are doublets, unrelated in meaning now but sharing a distant ancestor.

Synonyms: cord, string