Etymology

wrinkle

wrink·le
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Today it means: A small furrow, ridge or crease in an otherwise smooth surface. Full definition →

Middle English wrinkle
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wrinkle · noun1

  1. Middle English · inherited fromwrinkle
  2. English todaywrinkle

From Middle English wrinkle, wrynkel (“crease, fold, wrinkle”), from the verb (see below). Cognate with Dutch wrinkel (“wrinkle, crease”). Compare also Middle English runkel (“wrinkle”), from Old Norse hrukka (“wrinkle”), from Proto-Germanic *hrunkwǭ (“wrinkle, crease”), whence also French fronce (“crooked smile, scowl, frown”), German Runzel (“wrinkle”), Danish rynke (“wrinkle”), Swedish rynka and rynkla (“wrinkle”).

wrinkle · verb2

  1. Old English · inherited from*wrinclian
  2. Middle English · inherited fromwrynklen
  3. English todaywrinkle

From Middle English wrynklen, wrinklen (“to wrinkle”), from Old English *wrinclian (attested in past participle ġewrinclod (“wrinkled, crooked, winding”)). Cognate with Middle Dutch wronckelen, wrinckelen (“to wind, wrap, meander”), modern dialectal Dutch wrinkelen (“to wrinkle”). Compare also Middle English runklen (“to wrinkle, become wrinkled”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.