Where does “cringe” come from?
Cringe comes from Middle English crinchen, from Old English crenċan, from Proto-Germanic krangijaną built with the suffix -janą, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ger- with the suffix -yeti.
cringe (English): A posture or gesture of shrinking or recoiling; A...
Definitions
- A posture or gesture of shrinking or recoiling; A...
Ancestry of “cringe”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | crengen | to bend haughtily, condescend |
| 2 | Old English | crengan | to cause to fall, turn |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | *krangijan | — |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | krangijaną | to make turn, fall |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | kringaną | to turn, fall, yield |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ger- | to turn, bend, twist, wind; to tie, bind... |