Etymograph

English

drinkle

Drinkle comes from Old English *drenclian ‘to drown’, from drenċan ‘to give to drink, give drink to, drench, make…’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrenǵ- ‘to draw into one's mouth, sip, gulp’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰrenǵ-1‘to draw into one's mouth, sip, gulp’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*drinkaną2‘to drink’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*drankijaną3‘to cause to drink’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150drenċan4‘to give to drink, give drink to, drench, make drunk, ply with drink’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150*drenclian4‘to drown’reconstructedfrequentative form of drenċan
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500drinklen4
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1900drinkle4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *drinkaną
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *drankijaną
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English drencan
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English drinkle
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1900, George Borrow, Notes to Lavengro, with Corrections, Identifications and Tra: “And the Mercury states that "the heavy rain drenched…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰrenǵ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *drinkaną‘to draw into one's mouth, sip, gulp’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*drinkanąWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *drankijaną‘to drink’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*drankijanąWiktionary, Old English drencan‘to cause to drink’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150drenċanWiktionary, English drinkle‘to give to drink, give drink to, drench, make drunk, ply with drink’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150*drenclianWiktionary, English drinkle‘to drown’reconstructedfrequentative form of drenċan
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500drinklenWiktionary, English drinkle
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1900drinkleWiktionary, English drinkle. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1900, George Borrow, Notes to Lavengro, with Corrections, Identifications and Tra: “And the Mercury states that "the heavy rain drenched…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰrenǵ- ‘to draw into one's mouth, sip, gulp’

drunken, 4 more

through Proto-Germanic *drinkaną ‘to drink’

drunk, dink, 5 more

through Proto-Germanic *drankijaną ‘to cause to drink’

drenching, 1 more

through Old English drenċan ‘to give to drink, give drink to, drench, make…’

drench, 1 more

Today it means

verb To drink (an alcoholic beverage); also, to cause (someone) to drink such a beverage; to drench; to drown.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “drinkle”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *drinkaną, Proto-Germanic *drankijaną, Old English drencan. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰrenǵ- / drinkle

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