kink

kink · verb, noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*gang-“to mock, jeer, deride”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*kinkōną“to laugh”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*kinkōn
4. Old English · inherited from*cincian
5. Middle English · inherited fromkinken
6. English todaykink

From Middle English kinken, kynken, from Old English *cincian (attested in cincung), from Proto-West Germanic *kinkōn, from Proto-Germanic *kinkōną (“to laugh”), from Proto-Indo-European *gang- (“to mock, jeer, deride”), related to Old English canc (“jeering, scorn, derision”). Cognate with Dutch kinken (“to kink, cough”).

kink · noun, verb²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*gengʰ-“to turn, wind, braid, weave”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*kenk-
3. Dutch · borrowed fromkink“a twist or curl in a rope”
4. English todaykink

From Dutch kink (“a twist or curl in a rope”), from Proto-Germanic *kenk-, *keng- (“to bend, turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *gengʰ- (“to turn, wind, braid, weave”). Compare Saterland Frisian Kink (“twist or entanglement in a rope or cord”), Middle Low German kinke (“spiral screw, coil”), Old Norse kikna (“to bend backwards, sink at the knee”), Icelandic kengur (“a bend or bight; a metal crook”). Probably related to kick.

First known use, by meaning

• from 17th c. A tight curl, twist, or bend in a length of rope, line, or other long cylindrical material, such as hair etc.
• from 18th c. A cramp or stiffness in a part of the nody, especially the neck or back.
• from 18th c. An unusual or irrational notion; a whim; a caprice.
• from 19th c. A minor difficulty or flaw that is likely to impede operation, as in a plan or system.
• from 20th c. A sexual behaviour or taste considered to be unusual or unconventional.
• from 20th c. Unconventional or deviant sexual desires or practices, seen as a mass concept.
• from 20th c. A person with peculiar sexual tastes; (sometimes more loosely) an eccentric.