Etymology

twink

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Today it means: To twinkle; to sparkle. Full definition →

First used late 1990sMiddle English twinken ← Old English *twincian ← Proto-West Germanic *twinkōn
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twink · verb, noun1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*twint-“to twinkle”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*twinkōną
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*twinkōn
  4. Old English · inherited from*twincian“to wink; twinkle”
  5. Middle English · inherited fromtwinken
  6. English todaytwink

From Middle English twinken, twynken, from Old English *twincian (“to wink; twinkle”), from Proto-West Germanic *twinkōn, from Proto-Germanic *twinkōną, an augmented form (with formative *-kōną; see English -k) of Proto-Germanic *twint- (“to twinkle”). Cognate with Middle High German zwinken, zwingen, modern German zwinkern (“to wink; twinkle”), Middle Dutch twinc (“a blink”), Middle High German zwinzen, zwinzern (“to blink, blink hard”).

twink · noun, verb2

Imitative of the sound.

twink · noun, verb3

From twinkie. More at Twink § Etymology on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

twink · noun4

Genericized trademark of Twink, a brand of correction fluid in New Zealand.

First known use, by meaning

  • from late 1990s A lower-level character in a roleplaying game (MMO) who is artificially overgeared or overpowered, due to being given advanced equipment or resources via a higher-level character controlled by the same player.
  • 1980s and 1990s A player in a multi-user dungeon (MUD) who engages in abusive min-maxing behaviour and exploits or took advantage of other players for personal gain.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.