tinsel

tinsel · noun, adjective, verb¹

1. Latin · derived fromscintillāre
2. Vulgar Latin · derived from*stincillāre
3. Old French · derived fromestincelé
4. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)ḱeh₁y-“to shimmer, shine”
5. Latin · derived fromscintilla“a glimmer; a spark”
6. Vulgar Latin · derived from*stincilla
7. Old French · derived fromestincelle
8. Anglo-Norman · derived fromtincel
9. Middle English · inherited fromtinsel“cloth containing gold or silver thread”
10. English todaytinsel

The noun is derived from Middle English tinsel (“cloth containing gold or silver thread”) [and other forms], probably from Anglo-Norman tincel, tincelle, tencele, and then: * from Old French estincelle, estencele (“a spark”) (modern French étincelle), from Vulgar Latin *stincilla, a metathesis of Latin scintilla (“a glimmer; a spark”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₁y- (“to shimmer, shine”); and * from Old French estincelé, the past participle of estinceler, estenceler (“to produce sparks”) (modern French étinceler (“to sparkle, twinkle; (archaic) to produce sparks”)), from Vulgar Latin *stincillāre, a metathesis of Latin scintillāre, the present active infinitive of scintillō (“to scintillate, sparkle”), from scintilla (“a glimmer; a spark”) (see above) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs). The English word is a doublet of scintilla, scintillate, and stencil. The adjective is from an attributive use of the noun; while the verb is derived from the noun.

tinsel · noun, verb²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*duH-“to torment, vex”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*teuną“damage; destruction, ruin; lack”
3. Old Norse · derived from*týnsla
4. Middle English · inherited fromtinsel“destruction, loss; damnation, spiritual loss; state of damnation”
5. English todaytinsel

The noun is derived from Middle English tinsel (“destruction, loss; damnation, spiritual loss; state of damnation”) [and other forms], probably from Old Norse *týnsla (modern Norwegian tynsla (“damage, destruction”)), from týna (“to destroy; to lose; to perish”) (whence Middle English tinen (“to be deprived of, lose; to fail to maintain; to forfeit; to lose track of; to mislay; to be separated from; to escape; to be defeated or forced to withdraw; to waste; to consume, use up; to be destroyed, perish; to damn; to remove, take”)) + -sla (suffix forming nouns from verbs, either denoting the action of the verb or the medium or product of the action). Týna is derived from tjón (“damage; loss”), from Proto-Germanic *teuną (“damage; destruction, ruin; lack”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *duH- (“to torment, vex”) or *deh₂w- (“to burn”). The verb is derived from the noun.

Words from the same roots