tinkle

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English tinklen,^[2][3] probably formed from English tink + -le, a frequentative of tinken (“to ring, clink”),^{[2][4][5][6][7]} which is probably of imitative origin.^[6][8][9] The OED gives two possibilities: an imitative element with the frequentative suffix, or a variant or alteration of tingle, with whose forms it varies in different manuscripts of the same Middle English texts.^[8][10] The Middle English Dictionary compares Dutch tingelen and tinkelen, Anglo-Norman tincler and perhaps Old English tinclian (“to tickle”).^[2][8] The earliest records translate Latin tinniō (“to ring; of the ears, to ring”), the source of tinnitus.^[8][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of the ears, to ring, and of the body, to tingle: before 1382, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible, which says that the ears of all who hear will tyncle.^{[8][2][3][10]}

Semantic evolution

The first sense, a ringing in the ears or a tingling, is now rare.^[8][4] The sense that became the main one, of a bell or other resonant object making a series of light ringing sounds, is recorded before 1500 in the Wars of Alexander,^[8][2] and a person tinkling a bell or instrument from 1582.^[8][6] From 1562 one could tinkle a thing to make it known or praise it, and later (1639) summon someone by tinkling.^[8] Figuratively, speech or verse could tinkle, "rhyme, jingle" (1625–1920), and a person could tinkle, talk idly (1638).^[8] The noun, a light ringing sound, followed from 1668.^[8][3][6] In 20th-century colloquial use tinkle came to mean a telephone call, usually in give someone a tinkle (1921 in the OED, 1938 in Green's Dictionary of Slang),^[8][11] and, in nursery talk, urination: the noun from 1939, the verb from 1943.^[8][6][11]

Timeline

• before 1382 – of the ears, to ring; of the body, to tingle.^[8][2]
• before 1500 – of a bell or instrument, to make light ringing sounds.^[8]
• 1562 – to make known or praise by ringing.^[8]
• 1582 – transitive, to cause a bell or instrument to tinkle.^[8][6]
• 1625 – of speech or verse, to rhyme, jingle (obsolete by 1920).^[8]
• 1668 – noun, a light ringing sound.^[8]
• 1755 – to flow or move with light ringing sounds.^[8]
• 1921 – noun, a telephone call.^[8]
• 1939 – noun, an act of urination; verb, 1943.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make a series of short, light, high ringing sounds, like a small bell: The wind chimes tinkled on the porch.^[9][12][8]
2. To cause something to make such sounds: She tinkled a spoon against her glass.^[9][8]
3. To announce or summon by tinkling.^[9][8]
4. (informal) To urinate.^[9][8][11]
5. (rare) To tingle.^[12][4][8]

Noun

1. A light, high ringing sound, or a series of them: the tinkle of ice in a jug.^[9][12][8]
2. (British, informal) A telephone call: Give me a tinkle when you arrive.^[9][8][11]
3. (informal) An act of urinating.^[8][11]

Word family

• tinkly

Related words

• ting
• tingle
• tink
• tinkling
• tinnitus

Usage notes

A separate verb tinkle, to work as a tinker or mend things, is a back-formation from tinkler, a tinker, first recorded in 1598;^[8] the English Dialect Dictionary records it in Scotland and Yorkshire for tinkering or doing a job awkwardly.^[13]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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)
3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ 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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ a b c d e Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
12. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
13. ^ 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)