An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/winseln

by Friedrich Kluge

winseln, verb, ‘to whine, whimper,’ from the equivalent Middle High German winseln, an intensive of Middle High German winsen, Old High German winsôn, winisôn, weak verb, ‘to lament.’ Probably derived, like wimmern (wiehern), from the Teutonic root hwī̆. Its connection with weinen is less probable.