The story
- Old English · derived fromēle“oil”
- Middle English · derived fromelen“to anoint”
- Middle English · derived froman-“on”
- Middle English · inherited fromanelen
- English todayanele
From Middle English anelen, anelien, from Middle English an- (“on”) + Middle English elen (“to anoint”), from Old English ēle (“oil”). Compare English anoil.
Words from the same roots
Middle Englishanelen all →
anneal
Middle Englishan- all →
an-
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.