The story
- Proto-West Germanic · derived from*-ikīn
- Middle English · inherited from-ekyn
- English today-ikin
From Middle English -ekyn. Representing Proto-West Germanic *-ikīn, *-ukīn, a double diminutive, from *-ik, *-uk (> Old English -oc) + *-īn (compare Old English -en). Possibly influenced by Dutch, Middle Dutch, and Old Dutch diminutives ending in -eken and -ekijn and their English borrowings, such as Old Dutch spelleken (English spilikin), Middle Dutch cannekijn /kanneken (English canakin /canikin /cannikin), mannekijn (Dutch manneken, English manikin /mannikin), minnekijn (English minikin), and Dutch godeken (English goddikin /godkin), or other English formations with -kin ending in -ikin, such as bodikin, boikin, sillikin, and the possibly so formed larrikin.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.