Etymology

swindle

swin·dle
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Today it means: To defraud. Full definition →

German Schwindler ← Middle High German swindeln ← Old High German swintilōn
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swindle · verb, noun1

  1. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*swindan“to diminish”
  2. Old High German · derived fromswintilōn
  3. Middle High German · derived fromswindeln
  4. German · derived fromschwindeln
  5. German · derived fromSchwindler
  6. English todayswindle

Back-formation from swindler, from German Schwindler, from German schwindeln, from Middle High German swindeln, swindelen, from Old High German swintilōn, frequentative of the verb swintan, from Proto-West Germanic *swindan (“to diminish”). See also Modern German schwindeln, Danish svindel and svindle, Dutch zwindelen and zwendelen, Yiddish שווינדל (shvindl), Low German swinneln, Middle English swinden (“to languish, waste away”).

Swindle · proper noun2

* As an English surname, variant of Swindell. * As a German surname, Americanized from Schwindell, a diminutive of the lost Middle High German adjective swinde (“impetuous, wild”).

Words from the same roots

GermanSchwindler all →

swindler

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.