An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/kitzeln

by Friedrich Kluge

kitzeln, verb, ‘to tickle,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kitzeln, kützeln, Old High German chizzilôn, chuzzilôn; compare Middle Low German ketelen, Old Icelandic kitla; Anglo-Saxon cytelian (English to kittle) is based on the primary form *kutilôn. English to tickle, Middle English tikelen, is based on a transposition of consonants in the root kit (so too Alemannian zicklen, ‘to provoke’); compare Essig, Fieber, Kabeljau, and Ziege. The Teutonic root kit, kut, ‘to tickle,’ seems to have been coined anew in Teutonic on an onomatopoetic basis; hence the Old High German variants chizzilôn, chuzzilôn. In cognate languages similar correspondences are formed anew; compare Lettic kutēt, ‘to tickle.’ The substantive Kitzel, masculine, ‘tickling,’ first occurs in Modern High German and is formed from the verb; compare Handel.