wicker meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

wicker

noun

UK /ˈwɪkəː/ · US /ˈwɪkɚ/

Etymology From Middle English wiker, cognate with Swedish vikker (“willow”), Old Norse veikr (“weak”), English weak.

A flexible branch or twig of a plant such as willow, used in weaving baskets and furniture.

Wickerwork.

wicker basket wicker chair wicker cradle
Then quick did dress / His half milk up for cheese, and in a press / Of wicker pressed it.1614–1615, Homer, “(please specify the book number)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615, →OCLC; republished in The Odysseys of Homer, […], volume (please specify the book number), London: John Russell Smith, […], 1857, →OCLC:

adj

Etymology From Middle English wiker, cognate with Swedish vikker (“willow”), Old Norse veikr (“weak”), English weak.

Made of wickerwork.

There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs,[…], and all these articles[…] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
He rose to light my cigarette, then sank back into his wicker chair contentedly. The tea was weak, but not cold, thanks to the hot-plate.1956, Delano Ames, chapter 7, in Crime out of Mind:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.