Etymology

dreidel

drei·del
D2R1E1I1D2E1L1

Today it means: A four-sided spinning top, inscribed with the four Hebrew letters נ (nun), ג (gimel), ה (hey), and ש (shin) (or פ (pey)) on each side, often used to play a traditional game during the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. Full definition →

Yiddish דריידל ← Middle High German dræn ← Old High German drāen
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*trandijaną“to revolve, spin”
  2. Middle High German · derived fromtrendel“spinning top”
  3. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*terh₁-“to turn; to rub; to drill, pierce”
  4. Proto-Germanic · derived from*þrēaną“to turn; to twist”
  5. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*þrāan
  6. Old High German · derived fromdrāen“to turn; to twist”
  7. Middle High German · derived fromdræn
  8. Yiddish · borrowed fromדריידל“dreidel; spinning top”
  9. English todaydreidel

Borrowed from Yiddish דריידל (dreydl, “dreidel; spinning top”), probably a blend of דרייען (dreyen, “to spin; to turn; to twist”) + טרענדל (trendl, “(dated) dreidel; spinning top”). דרייען (dreyen) is derived from Middle High German dræn, from Old High German drāen (“to turn; to twist”), from Proto-West Germanic *þrāan, from Proto-Germanic *þrēaną (“to turn; to twist”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to turn; to rub; to drill, pierce”); and טרענדל (trendl) is derived from Middle High German trendel (“spinning top”), from Proto-Germanic *trandijaną (“to revolve, spin”).

Words from the same roots

Proto-West Germanic*þrāan all →

throw

Proto-Germanic*þrēaną all →

throwthrown

Proto-Indo-European*terh₁- all →

throwthresholdthrashdermathreshtruantthreadbaredetritivoreterebrantterebratulaterebratulid-treme

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.