wiki

American  

[wik-ee] / ˈwɪk i /

noun

plural

wikis

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

   2. ( as modifier )

      wiki technology

---

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

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 wiki community is challenging the Wikimedia Foundation’s right or ability to run fundraising ads on English Wikipedia,” said Lane Rasberry, a long-term Wikipedian and data scientist at the University of Virginia.

From Slate • Dec. 2, 2022

To understand what happened, it helps to know a little about wiki politics.

From Slate • Dec. 2, 2022

But my heart sinks quickly—there’s no signal, no way for me to pull up the wiki.

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas