tickle

tickle · noun, verb, adjective, adverb¹

1. Middle English · derived fromkitelen
2. Middle English · derived fromtikken“to touch lightly”
3. Middle English · inherited fromtiklen
4. English todaytickle

From Middle English tiklen, tikelen, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a frequentative form of Middle English tikken (“to touch lightly”), thus equivalent to tick + -le; or perhaps related to Old English tinclian (“to tickle”). Compare North Frisian tigele (“to tickle”) (Hallig dialect), and tiikle (“to tickle”) (Amrum dialect), German dialectal zicklen (“to excite; stir up”). Alternatively, from a metathetic alteration of Middle English kitelen ("to tickle"; see kittle). Both are ultimately sound-symbolic.

Tickle · proper noun²

From Tickhill in England.

Words from the same roots