lickety
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Somewhat disputed. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests either the verb or noun lick “stroke with the tongue”,[1] with -ety, a suffix used to extend monosyllabic words.[2] Merriam-Webster supports OED, deriving lickety-split from the same senses of lick.[3] Harper's Online Etymology Dictionary, in contrast, suggests it is a variant of the noun lick “sprint; rate of speed”.[4] Some writers suggest that lickety-split may be onomatopoeic – compare clickety, clicketty-clack – but they note this as personal opinion.[5] The word is attested, with variable spelling, from the 19th century; see quotations below and at Citations:lickety.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈlɪkɪti/
Adverb
lickety
- (US, informal, usually compounded with a noun) At full speed, fast.
- lickety-cut
- lickety-split
- 1843, John S. Robb, Streaks of Squatter of Life, and Far-west Scenes[2], page 116:
- Away they started, “lickety-click,” and arrived at the winning-post within touching distance of each other.
- 1886, Bret Harte, “Chiquita”, in Abraham Firth, editor, Voices for the Speechless, page 95:
- Lickity, lickity, switch, we came to the ford, and Chiquita / Buckled right down to her work
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:lickety.
References
- ^ “lickety-, comb. form”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2025.
- ^ “-ety, suffix”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2024.
- ^ “lickety-split, adverb.”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025), “lickety-split”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ^ Dex (8 June 2004), “What’s the origin of "lickety-split"?”, in The Straight Dope[1], archived from the original on 8 March 2021