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Origin and history of wriggle

wriggle(v.)

late 15c., intransitive, "twist or turn with short, writhing motion," from Middle Low German wrigglen, from Proto-Germanic *wrig-, which in Watkins is reconstructed to be from *wreik- "to turn," from PIE root *wer- (2) "to turn, bend."

Related to Old English wrigian "to turn, incline, go forward." Wriggen "wag (one's tail), c. 1500, is perhaps from Frisian. As a noun by 1670s, "quick, twisting motion or contortion;" oldest use is figurative. Related: Wriggled; wriggler; wriggling.

also from late 15c.

Entries linking to wriggle

squiggle(v.)

"to work or move about like an eel, squirm, wriggle," 1804, probably a blend of squirm and wriggle. Related: Squiggled; squiggling.

*wer-(2)

Proto-Indo-European root forming words meaning "to turn, bend."

It might form all or part of: adverse; anniversary; avert; awry; controversy; converge; converse (adj.) "exact opposite;" convert; diverge; divert; evert; extroversion; extrovert; gaiter; introrse; introvert; invert; inward; malversation; obverse; peevish; pervert; prose; raphe; reverberate; revert; rhabdomancy; rhapsody; rhombus; ribald; sinistrorse; stalwart; subvert; tergiversate; transverse; universe; verbena; verge (v.1) "tend, incline;" vermeil; vermicelli; vermicular; vermiform; vermin; versatile; verse (n.) "poetry;" version; verst; versus; vertebra; vertex; vertigo; vervain; vortex; -ward; warp; weird; worm; worry; worth (adj.) "significant, valuable, of value;" worth (v.) "to come to be;" wrangle; wrap; wrath; wreath; wrench; wrest; wrestle; wriggle; wring; wrinkle; wrist; writhe; wrong; wroth; wry.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit vartate "turns round, rolls;" Avestan varet- "to turn;" Hittite hurki- "wheel;" Greek rhatane "stirrer, ladle;" Latin vertere (frequentative versare) "to turn, turn back, be turned; convert, transform, translate; be changed," versus "turned toward or against;" Old Church Slavonic vrŭteti "to turn, roll," Russian vreteno "spindle, distaff;" Lithuanian verčiu, versti "to turn;" German werden, Old English weorðan "to become;" Old English -weard "toward," originally "turned toward," weorthan "to befall," wyrd "fate, destiny," literally "what befalls one;" Welsh gwerthyd "spindle, distaff;" Old Irish frith "against."

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    writhe
    Old English wriðan (transitive) "to twist or bend," earlier "to bind or fetter," from Proto-Germanic *writhanan (source also of North Frisian wrial, Old High German ridan, Old Norse riða, Middle Swedish vriþa, Middle Danish vride), from PIE *wreit-, from root *wer- (2) "to turn,
    squirm
    "to wriggle, writhe," 1690s, dialectal, originally referring to eels, of unknown origin; sometimes it has been associated with worm or swarm, but perhaps rather it is imitative. The figurative sense of "be painfully affected, to writhe on the inside, mentally or emotionally" is b
    twist
    mid-14c., "flat part of a hinge" (now obsolete), probably from Old English -twist "divided object; fork; rope" (as in mæsttwist "mast rope, stay;" candeltwist "wick"), from Proto-Germanic *twis-, from PIE root *dwo- "two." Original senses suggest "dividing in two" (source also of
    catawampus
    obsolete cater "to set or move diagonally" (see catty-cornered); the second element perhaps is related to Scottish wampish "to wriggle...
    scramble
    1580s (intransitive), "make one's way by clambering, etc., struggle or wriggle along," also "strive with others or jostle...
    belly-dance
    It might with equal candor be called the Lumbar Wriggle [or] the Pectoral Squirm, for this curious Arab almeh possesses the...
    motion
    late 14c., mocioun, "process of moving; change of place, continuous variation of position;" also "suggestion, proposal or proposition formally made," from Old French mocion "movement, motion; change, alteration" (13c., Modern French motion) and directly from Latin motionem (nomin
    movement
    late 14c., mevement, "change of position; passage from place to place," from Old French movement "movement, exercise; start, instigation" (Modern French mouvement), from Medieval Latin movimentum, from Latin movere "to move, set in motion" (from PIE root *meue- "to push away"). I
    wrench
    Old English wrencan "to twist," from Proto-Germanic *wrankjan (source also of Old High German renken, German renken "to twist, wrench," Old English wringan "to wring"), from PIE *wreng- "to turn" (source also of Sanskrit vrnakti "turns, twists," Lithuanian rengtis "to grow crooke
    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

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