Etymology

whittle

whit·tle
W4H4I1T1T1L1E1

Today it means: A knife; especially, a clasp-knife, pocket knife, or sheath knife. Full definition →

Middle English whittel ← Old English þwītan ← Proto-Germanic *þwītaną
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whittle · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*twey-“to shake, hurl, toss”
  2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*þwītaną
  3. Old English · derived fromþwītan“to strike down, whittle”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromwhittel“large knife”
  5. English todaywhittle

From Middle English whittel (“large knife”), an alteration of thwitel, itself from thwiten (“to whittle”), from Old English þwītan (“to strike down, whittle”), from Proto-Germanic *þwītaną, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *twey- (“to shake, hurl, toss”). Compare Old Norse þveita (“to hurl”), Ancient Greek σείω (seíō, “I shake”). Related to thwite and thwaite.

whittle · noun2

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*hwītilaz
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*hwītil
  3. Old English · inherited fromhwītel“cloak, blanket”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromwhytel
  5. English todaywhittle

From Middle English whytel, from Old English hwītel (“cloak, blanket”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwītil, from Proto-Germanic *hwītilaz, equivalent to white + -le; akin to Icelandic hvítill (“white bedcover, sheet, linen”).

Words from the same roots

Old Englishþwītan all →

thwite

Proto-Germanic*þwītaną all →

thwite

Old Englishhwītel all →

blanket

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.