Etymology

needle

nee·dle
N1E1E1D2L1E1

Today it means: A long, thin, sharp implement usually for piercing as in sewing, embroidery, acupuncture, tattooing, body piercing, medical injections, sutures, etc; or a blunt but otherwise similar implement used for forming loops or knots in crafts such as darning, knitting, tatting, etc. Full definition →

Middle English nedle ← Old English nǣdl ← Proto-West Germanic *nāþlu
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needle · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*(s)neh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*(s)néh₁tlom
  3. Proto-Germanic*nēþlą
  4. Proto-Germanic*nēþlō
  5. Proto-West Germanic*nāþlu
  6. Old Englishnǣdl
  7. Middle Englishnedle
  8. English todayneedle

From Middle English nedle, from Old English nǣdl, from Proto-West Germanic *nāþlu, from Proto-Germanic *nēþlō, from pre-Germanic *neh₁-tleh₂, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₁- (“to spin, twist”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Näddele (“sewing needle”), Dutch naald (“needle”), German Nadel (“needle, pin, crochet hook”), nähen (“sew”), Luxembourgish Nol (“needle”), Vilamovian nöłd (“needle”), Yiddish נאָדל (nodl, “needle, pin”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Swedish nål (“needle”), Elfdalian ną̊l (“needle”), Faroese, Icelandic nál (“needle”), Gothic 𐌽𐌴𐌸𐌻𐌰 (nēþla, “sewing needle”), Finnish neula (“needle”). Further related with Welsh nyddu, Latin nēre, Sanskrit स्नायति (snāyati, “wraps up, winds”). Related to snood.

Needle · proper noun2

* As an English surname, from the noun needle. Compare Nadler. * As a Jewish surname, translation of the surname Nadel, itself meaning needle.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.