The story
- Old French · derived frompenuncel
- Middle English · inherited frompenoncel
- English todaypennoncel
From Middle English penoncel, from Old French penuncel, diminutive of penon (“pennon”). See pennon, pennant. By surface analysis, pen + French -on (“diminutive”) + Old French -cel (“diminutive”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.