nimble

The story

1. Old English · derived fromnumol“able to take, capable of holding”
2. Old English · inherited fromnǣmel“receptive, quick to grasp”
3. Middle English · inherited fromnymyl
4. English todaynimble

With intrusive -b-, inherited from Middle English nymyl, nemel, nemyll, nymell (“agile, quick, ready, able, capable”), a merger of Old English nǣmel (“receptive, quick to grasp”) and Old English numol (“able to take, capable of holding”), both from niman (“to take”) + -el, -ol (associative suffix), corresponding to nim + -le. Compare German nehmen, Gothic 𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (niman), Old Norse nema (“to take”). More at nim.