Etymology

canoodle

ca·noo·dle
C3A1N1O1O1D2L1E1

Today it means: To caress, fondle, or pet (someone); also, to have sexual intercourse with (someone); to make love with. Full definition →

German knuddeln ← Low German knuddle ← Old High German knodo
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canoodle · verb, noun1

  1. Old High German · derived fromknodo
  2. Low German · derived fromknuddle“a clump, a knot”
  3. German · derived fromknuddeln“to cuddle; (originally) to embrace tightly”
  4. English todaycanoodle

The origin of the verb is uncertain; the following possibilities have been suggested: * From a blend of ca(ress) + noodle (“to engage in frivolous behavior; to fool around or waste time; to mess around, to play”). * From German knuddeln (“to cuddle; (originally) to embrace tightly”); or related to Low German knuddle (“a clump, a knot”), a diminutive of knude, related to Old High German knodo, knoto (“a knot”) (modern German Knoten (“knot”)); ultimate etymology unknown. Compare also Norwegian Bokmål knulle (“to fuck”), Swedish knulla (“to fuck”), both from Proto-Germanic *knuzlijaną (“to beat; to mash”) (and also compare the semantics of the Scandinavian cognates of fuck). The noun is probably derived from the verb.

canoodle · noun2

Origin unknown.

Words from the same roots

Old High Germanknodo all →

noodle

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.