An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/kitzeln

by Friedrich Kluge

kitzeln, vb., ‘to tickle,’ from the equiv. MidHG. kitzeln, kützeln, OHG. chizzilôn, chuzzilôn; comp. MidLG. ketelen, OIc. kitla; AS. cytelian (E. to kittle) is based on the prim. form *kutilôn. E. to tickle, MidE. tikelen, is based on a transposition of consonants in the root kit (so too Alem. zicklen, ‘to provoke’); comp. Essig, Fieber, Kabeljau, and Ziege. The Teut. root kit, kut, ‘to tickle,’ seems to have been coined anew in Teut. on an onomatopoetic basis; hence the OHG. variants chizzilôn, chuzzilôn. In cognate languages similar correspondences are formed anew; comp. Lett. kutēt, ‘to tickle.’ The subst. Kitzel, m., ‘tickling,’ first occurs in ModHG. and is formed from the vb.; comp. Handel.