Chicken
/ˈtʃɪk.ɪn/noun
A domesticated bird kept for its meat and eggs.
Did you know?The word is historically linked to *chick* plus an old English diminutive ending, and its exact path is partly obscure, which is rare for such a common word.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*kikjō / *kukkjō?
“An uncertain ancestral bird-name reconstructed from Germanic forms”
Old English
OE
cicen
“A young chicken; a chick”
Middle English
ME
chiken
“A chicken; poultry”
Early Modern English
English
chicken
“A domestic fowl, especially the common poultry bird”
Modern English
English
chicken
“A domesticated bird kept for meat and eggs”