kittle
English
editEtymology 1
editFrom Middle English kitelen, from Old English citelian (“to tickle”), from Proto-West Germanic *kitilōn, from Proto-Germanic *kitilōną, frequentative form of Proto-Germanic *kitōną (“to tickle”), from Proto-Indo-European *geid- (“to stick, jab, tickle”).
Cognate with Dutch kittelen, kietelen (“to tickle”), Low German kettelen, ketelen (“to tickle”), German kitzeln (“to tickle”), Icelandic kitla (“to tickle”), Swedish kittla, kittsla, Danish kilde and perhaps Old Armenian կիծ- (kic-, “to sting, bite”). Compare tickle.
Alternative forms
editVerb
editkittle (third-person singular simple present kittles, present participle kittling, simple past and past participle kittled)
- (transitive, Scotland and Northern England) To tickle, to touch lightly.
Adjective
editkittle (comparative kittler, superlative kittlest)
- (Scotland and Northern England) Ticklish.
- (Scotland and Northern England) Not easily managed
- Synonyms: troublesome, difficult, variable
Derived terms
editEtymology 2
editFrom Middle English kitelen, from Old Norse kjetla (“to bring forth young”), equivalent to kit + -le.
Verb
editkittle (third-person singular simple present kittles, present participle kittling, simple past and past participle kittled)
- (intransitive, Scotland and Northern England) To bring forth young, as a cat; to kitten; to litter.
References
edit- “kittle”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- Northumberland Words, English Dialect Society, R. Oliver Heslop, 1893–4
- A List of words and phrases in everyday use by the natives of Hetton-le-Hole in the County of Durham, F.M.T.Palgrave, English Dialect Society vol.74, 1896, [1]
- Todd's Geordie Words and Phrases, George Todd, Newcastle, 1977[2]
Anagrams
edit- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- Scottish English
- Northern England English
- English adjectives
- English terms derived from Old Norse
- English terms suffixed with -le
- English intransitive verbs
- Northumbrian English
- Geordie English
- English 2-syllable words
- en:Cats