Etymology

weasel

wea·sel
W4E1A1S1E1L1

Today it means: Any of the carnivorous mammals of the genera Mustela, Neogale, Poecilogale, and Lyncodon, having a slender body, a long tail and usually a light brown upper coat and light-coloured belly. Full definition →

Middle English wēsele ← Old English weosule ← Proto-West Germanic *wisulā
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic*wisulǭ
  2. Proto-West Germanic*wisulā
  3. Old Englishweosule
  4. Middle Englishwēsele
  5. English todayweasel

From Middle English wesele, from Old English weosule, from Proto-West Germanic *wisulā, from Proto-Germanic *wisulǭ. The verb is from c. 1900, from the supposed cunningness of the weasel.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.