quisling

Meanings

Noun

• A traitor who collaborates with the enemy.

Verb

• Present participle of quisle

Origin

• , who ruled the Nazi collaborationist government of Norway during World War Two. From Quislinus, Latinization of Quislin, based on the Danish place name Kvislemark.
• . kvissel itself is a derivative of Old Norse kvísl ("fork [as in a 'fork in the road']"), which ultimately comes (by dissimilation) from Proto-Germanic *twīsilō. Cognates include Old English twisla ("confluence, junction, fork of a river or road") and Old High German zwisila ("forked implement, twig, branch").
• Ultimately related to English twistle, twissel and twizzle.