Icicle
/ˈaɪ.sɪ.kəl/noun
A hanging, tapering piece of ice formed by freezing water.
Did you know?The modern form comes from Old English *īs-gicel*, where *gicel* meant a lump or fragment of ice, so the word originally described an “ice chunk” rather than the elegant hanging spike we imagine today.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₁eyǵ-
“to be cold, icy”
Old English
OE
īs-gicel
“ice lump, icicle”
Middle English
ME
isikel / icesikel
“icicle; chunk or spike of ice”
Early Modern English
English
icicle
“a pointed hanging mass of ice”
Modern English
English
icicle
“a hanging, tapering piece of ice”