Etymology

pinwheel

P3I1N1W4H4E1E1L1

Today it means: A cogged (toothed) gear. Full definition →

English wheel ← Middle English whel ← Old English hwēol
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic*pinnaz
  2. Proto-West Germanic*pinn
  3. Old Englishpinn
  4. Middle Englishpinne
  5. Englishpin
  6. Proto-Indo-European*kʷelh₁-redup.
  7. Proto-Indo-European*kʷekʷléh₂
  8. Proto-Germanic*hweulō
  9. Old Englishhwēol
  10. Middle Englishwhel
  11. Englishwheel
  12. English todaypinwheel

From pin + wheel.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.