gimlet

The story

1. Middle Low German · derived fromwiemel
2. Anglo-Norman · derived fromwimble
3. Old French · derived fromguinbelet
4. Middle English · inherited fromgimlet
5. English todaygimlet

From Middle English gimlet etc., from Old French guinbelet, guimbelet, guibelet, probably a diminutive of the Anglo-Norman wimble, a variation of guimble (“drill”), from the Middle Low German wiemel; continued in Modern French as gibelet. Cocktail either named after the tool, in reference to its penetrating effects, or British Navy surgeon Thomas Gimlette (1857–1943).