kittle

Meanings

Verb

• To tickle, to touch lightly.
• To bring forth young, as a cat; to kitten; to litter.

Adjective

• Ticklish.
• Not easily managed

Origin

• From Middle English kitelen, from Old English citelian ("to tickle"), from Proto-West Germanic *kitilōn, from Proto-Germanic *kitilōną, frequentative form of Proto-Germanic *kitōną ("to tickle"), from Proto-Indo-European *geid- ("to stick, jab, tickle"). Cognate with Dutch kittelen, kietelen, Low German kettelen, ketelen, German kitzeln ("to tickle"), Icelandic kitla ("to tickle"), Swedish kittla, kittsla, Danish kilde and perhaps Old Armenian կծանեմ. Compare tickle.
• From Middle English kitelen, from Old Norse kjetla ("to bring forth young"), equivalent to kit + -le.