Etymology

prickle

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Today it means: A sharp and often small point, especially that of a plant; a thorn. Full definition →

Middle English prykkyl ← Old English pricel ← Proto-West Germanic *prikislī
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The story

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*prikislī
  2. Old English · inherited frompricel
  3. Middle English · inherited fromprykkyl
  4. English todayprickle

From Middle English prykkyl, prykyl, from Old English pricel, pricels, pricle (“a prickle, sharp point, bit”), from a conflation of Proto-West Germanic *prikislī and *prikil (“prickle”). By surface analysis, prick + -le. Cognate with West Frisian prikel (“goad, prickle”), Dutch prikkel (“sting, prickle, stimulus”), German Low German Prekel (“wooden stick, poker”), Saterland Frisian prikkelje (“to propel, spur on, goad”). First attested in the Old English period.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.