Etymologically
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twist

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /twɪst/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English twist, probably inherited from Old English -twist (“divided object; rope”), found in compounds such as mæsttwist (“mast rope, stay”) and candeltwist, snuffers,[2][3][4][5] from Proto-Germanic *twis-, from the base of two (compare twin and twine),[3][6][7] cognate with Dutch twist (“quarrel”) and German Zwist (“discord”).[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The flat part of a hinge, on which a door turns: 1350–51 in Barnhart and the OED, the late 13th century in Etymonline.[2][8][3]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that the oldest senses suggest dividing in two and later ones combining two into one.[3] A twig or branch (about 1374) and the fork where a thing divides (1398) are early senses.[8] Thread or cord of two or more strands is from 1555.[8][3] The verb, to wring or constrain, is from about 1200, and to spin strands into thread from the late 15th century.[3] An act of turning or rotating is from the 1570s, to wind spirally from the 1630s, and to wrench a limb out of place from the 1530s.[3] Figuratively, a peculiar bent of mind is by 1811, distorting words by 1821, and an unexpected development in a plot from 1941.[3] The dance is from 1961.[3] To twist someone round one's finger is by 1748, and to twist someone's arm by 1945.[3]

Timeline

  • 1350 – part of a hinge.[2][8]
  • c. 1200 – the verb, to wring.[3]
  • 1555 – a twisted cord.[8][3]
  • 1570s – a rotation.[3]
  • 1811 – a peculiar bent.[3]
  • 1941 – a plot twist.[3]
  • 1961 – the dance.[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To turn or wind round, or to turn one part while holding another.
  2. To wind strands together, as in making rope.
  3. To injure a joint by wrenching it: twist an ankle.
  4. To bend or curve: a twisting road.
  5. To distort the meaning of words.

Noun

  1. An act of twisting; a turn or coil.
  2. An unexpected development, as in a story.
  3. A thread or cord made of twisted strands.
  4. A dance of the 1960s with twisting movements of the hips.

Word family

  • twistability
  • twistable
  • twistingly
  • twisty
  • twistedly
  • arm-twist
  • entwist
  • intwist
  • twin
  • twine
  • two
  • twister
  • twisted

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press