Where does “wince” come from?
Wince comes from Middle English wincen, from Anglo-Norman wenchir, of unknown ultimate origin.
wince (English): A sudden movement or gesture of shrinking away; A...
Definitions
- A sudden movement or gesture of shrinking away; A...
Ancestry of “wince”, step by step
wince traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English wyncen
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | wyncen | To pull back or flinch |
| 2 | Frankish | wankijan | to sway, falter; to stagger, sway; to wave |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | wankijaną | to sway; to sway; waver |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | weng- | to bend, bow, arch, curve; to bow, be bent; to... |
via Proto-Germanic winkijǭ
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Proto-Germanic | winkijǭ | — |
| 2 | Spanish | winche | winch |
Words derived from “wince”