wankel

Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *wankal, from Proto-West Germanic *wankul.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

wankel (comparative wankeler, superlative wankelst)

1. unsteady, unstable, tottering
2. shaky, insecure

Declension

Declension of wankel
uninflected	wankel
inflected	wankele
comparative	wankeler
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		wankel	wankeler	het wankelst het wankelste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	wankele	wankelere	wankelste
	n. sing.	wankel	wankeler	wankelste
	plural	wankele	wankelere	wankelste
definite		wankele	wankelere	wankelste
partitive		wankels	wankelers	—

Verb

wankel

1. inflection of wankelen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

Anagrams

• kwalen

Middle English

Alternative forms

• wankill, wankille (Northern)

Etymology

Inherited from Old English wancol, from Proto-West Germanic *wankul.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwankəl/

Adjective

wankel

1. (rare) unstable, mutable, tottering, unconstant

   Ðe mereman ... wuneð in wankel stede ðer ðe water sinkeð. — Bestiary, 1300

Descendants

• English: wankle (dialectal)
  • ⇒ English: wonky
• Middle Scots: *wankill
  • Scots: wankle (hapax)

References

• “wankel, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
• Mayhew, A[nthony] L.; Skeat, Walter W. (1888), “Wankel, adj.”, in A concise dictionary of Middle English from A.D. 1150 to 1580‎, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 250.