Etymology

fickle

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Today it means: Quick to change one’s opinion or allegiance; insincere; not loyal or reliable. Full definition →

Middle English fikil ← Old English ficol
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fickle · adjective1

  1. Old English · inherited fromficol“fickle, cunning, tricky, deceitful”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromfikil
  3. English todayfickle

From Middle English fikil, fikel, from Old English ficol (“fickle, cunning, tricky, deceitful”), equivalent to fike + -le. More at fike.

fickle · verb2

  1. Middle English · inherited fromfikelen
  2. English todayfickle

From Middle English fikelen, from fikel (“fickle”); see above. Cognate with Low German fikkelen (“to deceive, flatter”), German ficklen, ficheln (“to deceive, flatter”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.