Where does “kinky” come from?

Kinky derives from English kink plus the suffix -y, which comes from Middle French -ie, from Latin -ia, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European -kos.

kinky (English): Full of kinks; liable to kink or curl; Marked by...

Definitions

  1. Full of kinks; liable to kink or curl; Marked by...

Ancestry of “kinky”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishkinkTo laugh loudly; To gasp for breath as in a...
2Middle Englishkinken
3Old Englishcincianto laugh loudly; cackle
4Proto-West Germanickinkōn
5Proto-Germanickinkōnąto laugh loudly, kink
6Proto-Indo-Europeanganǵ-to mock, insult

Words derived from “kinky

Every word from Proto-Indo-European ganǵ-