Link Centre Dictionary

quicken

quic·ken

US/ˈkwɪk(ə)n/ rare archaic literary obsolete rare

verb

1.

move faster

  • “The car accelerated”
Synonyms
Antonyms
2.

make keen or more acute

  • “whet my appetite”
Synonyms
3.

give life or energy to

  • “The cold water invigorated him”
Synonyms
4.

show signs of life

  • “the fetus quickened”
5.

give new life or energy to

  • “A hot soup will revive me”
  • “This will renovate my spirits”
  • “This treatment repaired my health”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English quikenen (“to become alive again after dying; to raise (someone) from the dead; to regain consciousness or strength; to give vitality, revive; to regain validity; to nourish; to spare (the life of someone or something); to ignite; to illuminate; of events: to happen more quickly; of clouds: to form”) [and other forms], from quiken (“to come to life; to become alive again after dying; to give or regain vitality, revive; of a seed: to germinate, grow; to arouse (anger); to inspire; to reinforce, strengthen; to make (a substance) alchemically active; to nourish, sustain; to sharpen; to ignite; to illuminate; of news: to spread”) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive forms of verbs). Quiken is derived from Old English cwician (“to bring to life, vivify; to come to life, become living; to quicken”), from cwic (“alive, live, living; mentally agile; intelligent, keen”) (ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kwikwaz (“alive; lively; quick”) and Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- (“to live”)) + -ian (suffix forming verbs from adjectives and nouns). The English word may be analysed as quick (“moving with swiftness; occurring in a short time; (archaic) alive, living; (archaic) pregn...

Phrases

  • quicken up

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.