# sicker

Pronunciation: US say "SIK-ur" /ˈsɪkɚ/; UK say "SIK-uh" /ˈsɪkə/

## Adjective

1. Comparative of sick. — comparative form of sick: more sick.
   - Simple: Comparative of sick. Use this to say someone or something is more sick than before.
   - _By the second day of the flu he was even sicker than the first._
   - _The longer the patient waited for treatment, the sicker he grew._

## Verb

2. To seep, trickle, or ooze slowly, as water working its way through a crack or porous surface. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To slowly leak or drip through a small gap, like water through a crack.
   - _Spring water sickers through the limestone and gathers in hidden pools._
   - _Rain can sicker through the old thatch during a heavy storm._

## Adjective

3. Secure; safe and protected from danger or harm. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Safe and well protected from harm or danger.
4. Certain; sure that something is true or will happen. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Sure and certain about something.

## Adverb

5. In a secure manner; safely and firmly. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: In a safe way, with no danger.
6. Certainly; assuredly, without doubt. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: For sure and without any doubt.

## Origin

**Meaning 1** — This is simply the comparative form of "sick," meaning "more sick." It was inherited from Middle English siker (also spelled sikker, sykkere), from Old English sēocra, and is equivalent to sick plus the ending -er.
**Meanings 3–6** — It came from Middle English siker, from Old English sicer or sicor, going back through Proto-West Germanic *sikur ("free, secure") to Latin sēcūrus ("secure," literally "without care"). It is a doublet of sure and secure.
**Meaning 2** — It was inherited from Middle English *sikeren, from Old English sicerian ("to ooze, seep"), from Proto-West Germanic *sikarōn and Proto-Germanic *sikarōną ("to trickle"), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sīką ("slow running water"). It is cognate with German sickern ("to seep, trickle").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/sicker (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).