An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/schenkern

by Friedrich Kluge

schenkern, vb., ‘to sling, fling; loiter, lounge’; from late MidHG. slęnkern, ‘to sling,’ allied to MidHG. slęnge, slęnger, slęnker, ‘sling,’ OHG. slęngira, f., ‘sling’; derivatives from a root sling (see schlingen). From this was formed OHG. slinga, f., MidHG. slinge, f., ‘sling,’ whence the Rom. term Fr. elingue was borrowed; comp. E. sling, and see Schlinge.