"bundle of fiber in a lamp or candle," Old English weoce, from West Germanic *weukon (cf. Middle Dutch wieke, Dutch wiek, Old High German wiohha, German Wieche), of unknown origin, with no known cognates beyond Germanic. To dip one's wick "engage in sexual intercourse" (in reference to males) is recorded from 1958, perhaps from Hampton Wick, rhyming slang for "prick," which would connect it rather to wick (n.2).
"dairy farm," now surviving, if at all, as a localism in East Anglia or Essex, it was once the common Old English wic "dwelling place, lodging, abode," then coming to mean "village, hamlet, town," and later "dairy farm" (e.g. Gatwick "Goat-farm"). Common in this latter sense 13c.-14c. The word is a general Germanic borrowing from Latin vicus "group of dwellings, village; a block of houses, a street, a group of streets forming an administrative unit" (see vicinity). Cf. Old High German wih "village," German Weichbild "municipal area," Dutch wijk "quarter, district," Old Frisian wik, Old Saxon wic "village."
royal burgh (town) and fishing port, Highland council area, historic county of Caithness, Scotland. An ancient Norse settlement on the North Sea, situated about 14 miles (23 km) south of John o'Groats, Wick developed as a fishing port and centre and was designated a royal burgh in 1589. It expanded rapidly during the herring boom of the 19th century. Since then herring fishing has declined and been replaced by the smaller whitefish industry. Several light manufacturing industries have been established, including the Caithness glass-blowing factory, which attracts thousands of visitors each year. Wick Airport provides important links to cities to the south. Pop. (2001) 7,333.
thread, strip, or bundle of fibres that, by capillary action, draws up the oil of a lamp or the melted wax in a candle to be burned. By 1000 BC, wicks of vegetable fibres were used in saucer-type vessels containing olive oil or nut oil in order to provide light, and by 500-400 BC these wicks were in general domestic use. See lamp.