Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

wiki

American  
[wik-ee] / ˈwɪk i /

noun

  • wikis
    plural
  1. (sometimes initial capital letter) a website that allows users to add, delete, or revise content by using a web browser: Students who contribute to the class review wiki may earn extra credit points on their exams.

    The wiki has character descriptions and image galleries for every game in the franchise.

    Students who contribute to the class review wiki may earn extra credit points on their exams.

    Research and development team members should all have permission to edit the design wikis for all current projects.

  2. Also called wiki application.  Also called wiki engine,.  the software used to create a wiki.


adjective

  1. of, relating to, or being a wiki.

    wiki servers.

wiki British  
/ ˈwɪkɪ /

noun

    1. a web application that allows anyone visiting a website to edit content on it

    2. ( as modifier )

      wiki technology

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of wiki

First recorded in 1990–95; shortening of WikiWikiWeb, a software program developed by Howard G. “Ward” Cunningham (born 1949), U.S. computer programmer; from Hawaiian wikiwiki “very quick,” emphatic reduplication of wiki “quick.” Cunningham coined the name WikiWikiWeb after recalling that a Honolulu International Airport counter employee advised him to take the Wiki Wiki Shuttle (a shuttle bus that runs between the terminals of the airport); his original idea was to make WikiWikiWeb's pages readily editable by its users and initially thought about calling his program QuickWeb but changed his mind and named it WikiWikiWeb

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

There’s no need to delay changes until some distant future print run; the whole point of a wiki is that you can always make an edit.

From Slate Apr. 12, 2025

In 2010, it became a moderated wiki and now is run by about 170 international volunteer editors who wrangle 50 or more new submissions a day.

From New York Times May 21, 2023

The Wikimedia Foundation was established in 2003, two years after Wikipedia itself, as a nonprofit organization to fund the internet encyclopedia and other crowdsourced wiki projects.

From Slate Dec. 2, 2022

In fact, in the five-year period leading up to the shooting, someone repeatedly tried to make Crimo a wiki entry.

From Slate Jul. 7, 2022

In fact, I help run a wiki that has tons of information on that character.

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas

The answer now and always has been various wikis or handy fan-created charts like this one:

From Salon Jul. 23, 2024

Pageviews across D&D-related wikis rose 9% after the first official “Honor Among Thieves” trailer dropped.

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 31, 2023

If you’re a really diehard person you’ll probably go on wikis and Reddit and really fall down the rabbit hole to figure out those things,” he says.

From The Verge Aug. 6, 2021

They spent a lot of time on queer wikis, looking up new possible identities.

From Slate Jul. 19, 2021

Technology improvements made it possible five years later with content aggregators, mash-up, wikis, and large scale content management.

From The eBook is 40 (1971-2011) by Marie Lebert

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training