stickle

stickle · noun¹

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*stiklaz
2. Old English · inherited fromsticel“a prickle, sting, goad”
3. Middle English · inherited from*stikel
4. English todaystickle

From Middle English *stikel, *stykyl (in compounds), from Old English sticel (“a prickle, sting, goad”), from Proto-Germanic *stiklaz, *stikilaz (“sting, stinger, peak, cup, goblet”), related to the verb *stikaną (“to stick”). Cognate with Dutch stekel, Icelandic stikill, Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌹𐌺𐌻𐍃 (stikls) (whence Russian стекло́ (stekló, “glass”), Polish szkło (“glass”), Lithuanian sti̇̀klas, Romanian sticlă).

stickle · adjective, noun²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)teyg-“to stick; peak”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*stikulaz
3. Old English · inherited fromsticel
4. Middle English · inherited fromstikel
5. English todaystickle

From Middle English stikel, from Old English sticel, sticol (“high, lofty, steep, reaching great heights, inaccessible”), from Proto-Germanic *stikulaz, *stikkulaz (“high, steep”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to stick; peak”).

stickle · verb³

1. Middle English · inherited fromstightelen
2. English todaystickle

From a variant of stightle (“to order, arrange, direct”), from Middle English stightelen, stiȝtlen, stihilen, stihlen, equivalent to stight (“to order, rule, govern”) + -le (frequentative suffix). For the development of /təl/ to /kəl/, compare huckleberry and dialectal turkle (“turtle”).

Stickle · proper noun⁴

From the German surname, Americanized from Stickel.

Words from the same roots