flinch

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kleng-“to bend, turn, wind”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*hlankijaną“to bend, twist, flex”
3. Frankish · derived from*hlankijan
4. Old French · derived fromflenchir
5. Middle French · borrowed fromflenchir“to bend”
6. English todayflinch

From Middle French flenchir (“to bend”), from Old French flenchir, flanchir, from Frankish *hlankijan, from Proto-Germanic *hlankijaną (“to bend, twist, flex”), from Proto-Indo-European *kleng- (“to bend, turn, wind”). Cognate with Old High German hlenken, whence Middle High German lenken (“to bend”), Modern German lenken (“to cause to veer or turn aside, steer”). Attested in English since the 16th century.

Words from the same roots