Etymology

twist

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Today it means: A twisting force. Full definition →

Middle English twist ← Old English *twist ← Proto-Germanic *twistaz
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited fromtwisten
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*twistaz
  3. Old English · inherited from*twist
  4. Middle English · inherited fromtwist
  5. English todaytwist

PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English twist, from Old English *twist, in compounds (e.g. mæsttwist (“a rope; stay”), candeltwist (“a wick”)), from Proto-Germanic *twistaz, a derivative of *twi- (“two-”) (compare also twine, between, betwixt). Related to Saterland Frisian Twist (“discord”), Dutch twist (“twist; strife; discord”), German Low German Twist (“strife; discord”), German Zwist (“turmoil; strife; discord”), Swedish tvist (“quarrel; dispute”), Icelandic tvistur (“deuce”). The verb is from Middle English twisten. Compare Dutch twisten, Danish tviste (“to dispute”), Swedish tvista (“to argue; dispute”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.