wicker (n.)

mid-14c., "wickerwork," from a Scandinavian source (compare Danish viger, Middle Swedish viker "willow, willow branch"), from Proto-Germanic *wik- (source also of Old Norse vikja "to move, turn," Swedish vika "to bend," Old English wican "to give way, yield"), from PIE root *weik- (2) "to bend, to wind." The notion is of pliant twigs. As an adjective, "made of wicker," from c. 1500.

updated on October 19, 2017