Etymology

wince

W4I1N1C3E1

Today it means: To flinch as if in pain or distress. Full definition →

Middle English wyncen ← Anglo-Norman winchir ← Frankish *wankjan
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

wince · verb, noun1

  1. Frankish · derived from*wankjan
  2. Anglo-Norman · derived fromwinchir
  3. Middle English · inherited fromwyncen
  4. English todaywince

From Middle English wyncen, from Anglo-Norman winchir (compare Old French guenchir), from Frankish *wankjan, related to *winkijan (“to flex, bend”). See also German winken.

Wince · proper noun2

German surname, probably Americanized from Winz, Wintz.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.