Wicht

• IPA^(key): /vɪçt/

• Audio

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• Rhymes: -ɪçt

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

Wicht m or (obsolete) n (strong, genitive Wichts or Wichtes, plural Wichte or (archaic) Wichter, diminutive Wichtchen n or Wichtlein n)

1. a small creature, particularly a goblin, sprite, leprechaun, kobold
   • 2010, Elke Bräunling, Wichtelfantasie, Verlag Stephen Janetzko, →ISBN:

     Da fängt das Gras an zu wachsen und auf einmal ähnelt jeder Grashalm einem tanzenden Wicht.

     Then the grass starts to grow and suddenly every stalk of grass resembles a dancing sprite.

2. (of a child, mildly derogatory or endearing) a cheeky one; a rascal

   Synonym: Gör

3. (of an adult, more derogatory) one who is mean but unimportant
4. (derogatory) dwarf, little man

• In contemporary German, Wicht is masculine with a plural Wichte. The neuter gender is obsolete. The plural Wichter is archaic as far as the simplex is concerned, but is still sometimes seen in the compound Bösewicht. Compare also etymology 2 below.

• Bösewicht
• Wichtel

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

Wicht n (strong, genitive Wichts or Wichtes, plural Wichter)

1. (archaic, regional, 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, page 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!”

Borrowed from Middle Low German wicht, from Proto-West Germanic *wihti, from Proto-Germanic *wihtiz.

• Wechte, Wucht

Wicht f (genitive Wicht, plural Wichten)

1. (rare, dated) Alternative form of Wichte (“specific weight”)

• “Wicht” in Duden online
• “Wicht” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Wicht” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.

Ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *wihti (“weight”).

Wicht f (plural Wichten)

1. weight
2. stress