kittle

kittle · verb, adjective¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*geyd-“to stick, jab, tickle”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*kitōną“to tickle”
3. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*kitilōną
4. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*kitilōn
5. Old English · inherited fromcitelian“to tickle”
6. Middle English · inherited fromkitelen
7. English todaykittle

From Middle English kitelen, from Old English citelian (“to tickle”), from Proto-West Germanic *kitilōn, from Proto-Germanic *kitilōną, frequentative form of Proto-Germanic *kitōną (“to tickle”), from Proto-Indo-European *geyd- (“to stick, jab, tickle”). Cognate with Dutch kittelen, kietelen (“to tickle”), Low German kettelen, ketelen (“to tickle”), German kitzeln (“to tickle”), Icelandic kitla (“to tickle”), Swedish kittla, kittsla, Danish kilde and perhaps Old Armenian կիծ- (kic-, “to sting, bite”), but note that many such words are sound-symbolic. Compare tickle.

kittle · verb²

1. Old Norse · derived fromkjetla“to bring forth young”
2. Middle English · inherited fromkitelen
3. English todaykittle

From Middle English kitelen, from Old Norse kjetla (“to bring forth young”), equivalent to kit + -le.

Words from the same roots