Meanings
Read more
"winken" is "to wink", right? Nope, they're false friends. Today, we'll learn what "winken" really means and what other cool words there are in the family.
Vocab:
winken, abwinken, wanken, wankelmütig, zwinkern, der Winkel
A fun look at the meaning of "spitz" and the various related words like "die Spitze" and "der Spitzname". A spitzen-way to build vocabulary :)
Vocab:
spitz, die Spitze, die Spitzenidee, anspitzen, der Spitzname, Ohren spitzen, der Spitzel, bespitzeln, die Speiche
Word Family
Root: *weng-
The original idea of this root was:
wending, curving
Which makes it awfully similar to the root *su̯enk-. Research shows no connection between the two, but we all know that science is just one many possible opinions.
(kidding, of course)
The main English member of the family is the word to wink, which probably evolved from moving in a staggering, tottering way and then at some point shifted toward that kind of movement for just the eyelids… I know… sounds stupid.
Other English relatives are winch, wench and wince.
