frazzle

The story

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*fasōn
2. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*fas
3. Old English · derived fromfæs“fringe, border”
4. Middle English · derived fromfacelyn“[of the end of a rope, or of cloth] to unravel”
5. English todayfrazzle

Originally an East Anglian word. Either from a variant of the now obsolete fazle (“to unravel”), altered due to influence from fray, or from a blend of fazle and fray. fazle comes from earlier fasel, which was inherited from Middle English facelyn (“[of the end of a rope, or of cloth] to unravel”). Middle English facelyn was a verbal derivative of the noun fasylle (“frayed edge”), which was in turn a derivative (with the diminutive suffix -el) of Old English fæs (“fringe, border”), from Proto-West Germanic *fas, from Proto-Germanic *fasōn. Related to German Faser (“fibre”).

Words from the same roots