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tingle

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Etymology and origin of the English word tingle

Pronunciation

  • /ˈtɪŋɡəl/[1]

tingle1 small nail

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1292
Borrowed from
Middle Dutch tingel-

Etymology

The word for the small nail is apparently borrowed from Middle Dutch tingel-, found in compounds such as tingeliser (“tingle iron”) and tingelspiker (“tingle spike”),[2][3] and probably from tingelen (“to seal up the gaps between boards or planks”).[2] The revised OED derives the Middle Dutch word, further, perhaps from tang (“tongs”), and compares Old Norse tengja (“to fasten”).[2] An older view, kept by the Shorter Oxford, takes the word from the stem of an unrecorded Old English verb matching that Old Norse verb, with the suffix -le,[4] and the Oxford Dictionary of English relates it to Middle High German zingel (“small tack or hook”);[5][6] the revised OED thinks the German word an independent formation.[2] It compares Middle French tingle (“batten”) (1328), itself from Dutch.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A very small nail, the smallest kind of tack, at first in the compound tingle nail: 1292, in building accounts printed by Salzman.[2][3][7] The OED notes an isolated Tyngnaill from 1259 that may be an earlier form.[2]

Semantic evolution

In the Middle English accounts of building and shipbuilding the word named the nail itself.[3] From the nail used to seal planks it passed in the 19th century to other small fittings of trades: a sheet of copper or a board nailed over a hole in a small boat as a temporary repair (1859), a strip of metal securing roofing materials (1875), and a bricklayer's device for keeping the line taut and level (1886).[2][7] The Shorter Oxford also records an S-shaped metal clip holding heavy panes of glass on a roof.[4]

Timeline

  • 1292 – tingle nail, a very small nail.[2][3]
  • 1859 – a metal sheet or board covering a hole in a boat.[2]
  • 1875 – a metal strip securing roofing materials.[2]
  • 1886 – a bricklayer's device for keeping the line taut.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A very small nail; a tack.[8][2][4]
  2. A patch of metal or wood nailed over a hole or leak in a boat.[8][2][4]
  3. (building) A metal strip or clip used to secure sheets of lead, slates or glass on a roof.[2][4]
  4. A device that keeps a bricklayer's line taut and level.[2][4]

tingle2 prickling sensation

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1398 before 1398, Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus
Ultimate origin
Middle English tinklen

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English tinglen,[9][10] which most dictionaries take as a variant or alteration from Middle English tinklen (“to tinkle”), the source of tinkle;[2][11][8][9][12][13] the Middle English Dictionary lists the tingle spellings under that verb.[3] The Shorter Oxford suggests that the change came about through association with ring.[4] The OED gives as a second possibility an imitative element, as in ting, with the frequentative suffix -le,[2] and Klein likewise calls it a frequentative of ting.[14] Skeat took tinklen itself as a frequentative of tinken (“to tink”).[15] The OED compares Dutch tingelen, to sting or burn, and a later Dutch tingelen meaning to tinkle;[2] Johnson derived the word from the Dutch.[16]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a person or part of the body, to feel a slight prickling or stinging: before 1398, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus, where the lips smarten and tinglen.[2][3][9] Barnhart dates the sense of the ears ringing on hearing something to before 1382, in the Wycliffite Bible,[9] but the Middle English Dictionary reads tyncle and tynclyn in the early version there, with tyngle in the later version,[3] which the OED dates to before 1425.[2]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the sensation and the sound overlapped: the ears were said to tingle on hearing shocking news, as in the Wycliffite Bible's rendering of Jeremiah, and the same verb was used of a cymbal tinkling.[3][2] The Oxford Dictionary of English suggests that the original notion was ringing in response to a loud noise, applied very early to the effect of hearing something shocking.[5] Weekley compares Latin tinniō, which has the same double sense of ringing and tingling.[17] From 1555 the cheeks were said to tingle with shame or anger; from 1572 the verb was used transitively, to cause a tingling, often of an emotional thrill.[2][7] The sound sense, of a bell tinkling, is recorded from 1582 and later often of the sanctus bell;[2] in Scots tingle still meant to ring or jingle in the 19th century.[18] The noun followed the verb: a light ringing sound from 1754 (as an interjection from 1667) and a tingling sensation from 1832.[2] Etymonline and Barnhart date the noun for the sound to 1700 and for the sensation to 1848.[12][9] In Australian and New Zealand slang a tingle is a telephone call, recorded from 1964.[19]

Timeline

  • before 1398 – of the body, to feel a prickling or stinging.[2][3]
  • before 1425 – of the ears, to ring, especially on hearing bad news.[2][7]
  • 1555 – of the cheeks, to smart with shame or indignation.[2][7]
  • 1572 – transitive, to cause to tingle, often figuratively of emotion.[2][7]
  • 1582 – of a bell, to tinkle.[2][7]
  • 1667 – interjection, imitating a light ringing.[2]
  • 1754 – noun, a light ringing sound.[2][7]
  • 1832 – noun, a tingling sensation.[2][7]
  • 1964 – in Australian slang, a telephone call.[19]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To feel a slight prickling, stinging or thrilling sensation: My fingers tingled in the frost.[8][20][2]
  2. To cause such a sensation: The cold air tingled her cheeks.[20][2]
  3. Of the ears, to ring, as after a loud noise or startling news.[8][2]
  4. Of a bell, to tinkle or jingle.[2][18]

Noun

  1. A prickling or stinging sensation, or a thrill of excitement.[8][20][2]
  2. A light ringing or tinkling sound.[8][2]

Word family

  • tingler
  • tingly
  • tinglingly
  • atingle

Usage notes

A third, unrelated tingle is a name for several sea snails that bore into oysters and other shellfish, such as the dog whelk; it is a shortening of whelk-tingle, recorded from the late 19th century,[4][2] and the Shorter Oxford calls it of unknown origin.[4]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  10. ^ Stratmann, Francis Henry (1891), A Middle-English Dictionary, revised by Henry Bradley, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  13. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  14. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  15. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  16. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  17. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  18. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  19. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  20. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

  • golf · also from Middle Dutch
  • grab · also from Middle Dutch
  • kit · also from Middle Dutch
  • clock · also from Middle Dutch
  • deck · also from Middle Dutch
  • hop · also from Middle Dutch
  • cant · also from Middle Dutch
  • brick · also from Middle Dutch
Cite this entry

“Tingle.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/tingle. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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