WikiWord

English

wriggle

/ˈɹɪɡəl/ · verb

Meaning

  1. To twist one's body to and fro with short, writhing motions; to squirm.
  2. To cause something to wriggle.
  3. To use crooked or devious means.
  4. A wriggling movement.

Etymology / origin

From wrig + -le (frequentative suffix). Compare Dutch wriggelen (“to wriggle, squirm”), Low German wriggeln (“to wriggle”). Related to Old English wrigian (“to turn, wend, hie, go move”), from Proto-Germanic *wrigōną (“to wriggle”).

  1. *wrigōną(gem-pro)→
  2. wrigian(Old English)→
  3. wriggeln(Low German)→
  4. wriggelen(nl)→
  5. wriggle (English)
  6. Relations: cog, cog, cog, cog

Related words

wriggelen(nl)wriggeln(Low German)wrigian(Old English)*wrigōną(gem-pro)動く(Japanese)

Descendant words

Sources

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