Origin and history of twist

late 13c., "flat part of a hinge" (a sense now obsolete), probably from Old English -twist "divided object; fork; rope" (as in mæst-twist "mast rope, stay;" candeltwist "wick"), from Proto-Germanic *twis-, from PIE root *dwo- "two."

Oldest uses suggest an etymological meaning "dividing in two," but later ones have the notion of "combining two into one," hence the sense of "thread or cord composed of two or more fibers" (1550s) might be "made of two strands." Compare the Middle English senses of twin (v.).

The meaning "act or action of turning on an axis, progressive rotary motion" is attested from 1570s. The sense of "beverage consisting of two or more liquors" is attested c. 1700, on the notion of "things spun together."

In reference to a spiral form, disposition, or arrangement from c. 1700; the meaning "thick cord of tobacco" resembling a rope or coil is from 1791. The sense of "loaf or roll of twisted dough baked" is by 1830. The meaning "curled piece of lemon, etc., used to flavor a drink" is recorded from 1958.

As "a wrenching out of place or shape," in reference to a body part, by 1865. Figuratively, "a peculiar bent, a deviation from the usual," by 1811, on the notion of a turning aside. The sense of "unexpected plot development" is from 1941.

The popular rock 'n' roll dance craze is from 1961, so called from the rotary hip motion involved, but twist was used to describe popular dances in 1890s and again in the 1920s. To get one's knickers in a twist "be unduly agitated" is British slang attested by 1971.

Cognates include Old Norse tvistra "to divide, separate," Gothic twis- "in two, asunder," Dutch twist, German zwist "quarrel, discord," though these senses have no equivalent in English. In Middle English twist might also mean "branch of a tree, tendril of a vine, young shoot; place of juncture or forking in the body, the groin."

c. 1200 (implied in past tense twaste), "to wring;" also "constrain, bind," probably from twist (n.). Related: Twisted; twisting.

The sense of "spin two or more strands of yarn into thread" is attested from late 15c. The meaning "move in a winding fashion, wind or turn spirally" is recorded from 1630s; that of "cause to rotate" is by 1789. The meaning "wring or thrust out of place or shape" is by 1530s in reference to a limb, etc.; figurative use, of words, meanings, by 1821. 

To twist the lion's tail was U.S. slang (1895) for "to provoke British feeling" (the lion being the symbol of Britain). To twist (someone's) arm in the figurative sense of "pressure (to do something)" is by 1945. To have someone twisted round one's finger, figuratively, is by 1748.

Also in Middle English "torment" the heart, "be torn" (between desires), "divide into points; take (someone's virginity)," also "convert" (for Latin raptum, Cor. xii.2).

Seynt Poule oute of þe world sodeynly he was twist [Life of St. Norbert, c. 1440]