grizzle · noun, adjective, verb1
- Proto-Germanic · derived from*grīsaz
- Frankish · derived from*grīs
- Old French · derived fromgrisel
- Middle English · inherited fromgrisel
- English todaygrizzle
From Middle English grisel, gryselle, from Old French grisel, from gris (“grey”), from Frankish *grīs, from Proto-Germanic *grīsaz.
grizzle · verb2
A West Country dialect term, perhaps from Old English grisan (“shudder”), which would make it a cognate of modern English grisly (not grizzly).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.