[go: up one dir, main page]
Advertisement

Origin and history of waggle

waggle(v.)

late 15c. (implied in waggling), "cause to wag often," frequentative of wag (v.) with -el (3). Compare Dutch waggelen "to waggle," Old High German wagon "to move, shake," German wackeln "to totter." The transitive sense of "move with a wagging motion" is attested from 1590s. Related: Waggled. As a noun, "a sudden, short, side-to-side movement," by 1885.

also from late 15c.

Entries linking to waggle

wag(v.)

early 13c., waggen (intransitive), "waver, vacillate, lack steadfastness," probably from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Norse vagga "a cradle," Danish vugge "rock a cradle," Old Swedish wagga "fluctuate, rock" a cradle), and in part from Old English wagian "move backwards and forwards;" all from Proto-Germanic *wag- (source also of Old High German weggen, Gothic wagjan "to wag"), which is probably from PIE root *wegh- "to go, move, transport in a vehicle."

From late 14c. as "be in motion back and forth or up and down." The transitive meaning "cause to move alternately back and forth or up and down" is from c. 1300; specifically in reference to dogs and their tails by mid-15c.: "and whanne they [hounds] see the hure maystre they wol make him cheere and wagge hur tayles upon him." [Edward, Duke of York, "The Master of Game," 1456]. Related: Wagged; wagging. Wag-at-the-wall (1825) was an old name for a hanging clock with pendulum and weights exposed.

wangle(v.)

1918, "obtain something by trickery;" earlier "accomplish in an indirect or insidious way," 1888, originally British printer's slang for "fake by manipulation," a word of uncertain origin. Compare wangle "move loosely on a base" (1820). Perhaps it is an alteration of waggle, or of wankle (now dialectal) "unsteady, fickle," from Old English wancol (see wench (n.)). Brought into wider use by soldiers in World War I.

-el(3)

derivational suffix, also -le, used mostly with verbs but originally also with nouns, "often denoting diminutive, repetitive, or intensive actions or events" [The Middle English Compendium], from Old English. Compare brastlian alongside berstan (see burst); nestlian (see nestle) alongside nistan). It is likely also in wrestle, trample, draggle, struggle, twinkle, also noddle "to make frequent nods" (1733), and Chapman (1607) has strapple "bind with a strap." To twangle (1550s) was "to twang (a musical instrument string) lightly or frequently." New formations in Middle English might be native formations (jostle from joust) with this or borrowings from Dutch.

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    shake
    Middle English shaken, from Old English sceacan "move (something) quickly to and fro, cause to move with quick vibrations; brandish; move the body or a part of it rapidly back and forth;" also "go, glide, hasten, flee, depart" (as in sceacdom "flight"); also intransitive, of pers
    shag
    "to shake, waggle," which is of obscure origin but probably related to or an alteration of shake (v.): And þe boot, amydde...
    belly-dance
    one of her principal sets of muscles quite independently of all the others, and can make any prominent part of her person waggle...
    agitation
    1560s, "debate, discussion" (on the notion of "a mental tossing to and fro"), from French agitation, from Latin agitationem (nominative agitatio) "motion, agitation," noun of action from past-participle stem of agitare "move to and fro," frequentative of agere "to set in motion,
    move
    late 13c., meven, in various senses (see below), from Anglo-French mover, Old French movoir "to move, get moving, set out; set in motion; introduce" (Modern French mouvoir), from Latin movere "move, set in motion; remove; disturb" (past participle motus, frequentative motare), fr
    joggle
    1510s, "to shake slightly, jostle," apparently a frequentative of jog (v.), though attested earlier than it. As a noun from 1727. Related: Joggled; joggling. Carpentry and masonry sense "fit together with notches and projections" is from 1703, of unknown origin; also as a noun "a
    wiggle
    early 13c., perhaps from Middle Dutch, Middle Low German, or Middle Flemish wigelen, frequentative of wiegen "to rock, wag, move back and forth," from wiege "cradle," from Proto-Germanic *wig- (source also of Old High German wiga, German Wiege "cradle," Old Frisian widze), from P
    wagon
    "four-wheeled vehicle to carry heavy loads," late 15c., from Middle Dutch wagen, waghen, from Proto-Germanic *wagna- (source also of Old English wægn, Modern English wain, Old Saxon and Old High German wagan, Old Norse vagn, Old Frisian wein, German Wagen), from PIE *wogh-no-, su
    convenience
    late 14c., "agreement, conformity, resemblance, similarity," also "state or condition of being suitable, adaptation to existing conditions," from Latin convenientia "a meeting together, agreement, harmony," from convenien-, present-participle stem of convenire "to come together,
    halcyon
    "calm, quiet, peaceful," 1540s, in halcyon dayes (translating Latin alcyonei dies, Greek alkyonides hemerai), 14 days of calm weather at the winter solstice, when a mythical bird (also identified with the kingfisher) was said to breed in a nest floating on calm seas. The name of

    Share waggle

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near waggle
    Advertisement