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ArchivesRe: Twitchell...
in reply to a message by bwt
Ancestry.com only said that it was English, so I looked 'twitch' up on an etymology site and got this ...
c.1175, to-twic-chen "pull apart with a quick jerk," related to O.E. twiccian "to pluck," from P.Gmc. *twikjonan (cf. Low Ger. twicken, Du. twikken, O.H.G. gizwickan, Ger. zwicken "to pinch, tweak"). The noun is attested from 1523.
I suspect that's the root ...
c.1175, to-twic-chen "pull apart with a quick jerk," related to O.E. twiccian "to pluck," from P.Gmc. *twikjonan (cf. Low Ger. twicken, Du. twikken, O.H.G. gizwickan, Ger. zwicken "to pinch, tweak"). The noun is attested from 1523.
I suspect that's the root ...
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Replies
Yes, it seems that most English words and names beginning with TW once gave the sense of separation or division into two, though the meaning of twitch has changed over time.
Basil Cottle (Penguin Dictionary of Surnames) explains Twitchell, as Old English for a fork in a stream or river, i.e., two branches. Presumably the surname identified someone who lived near a "twitchell".
Basil Cottle (Penguin Dictionary of Surnames) explains Twitchell, as Old English for a fork in a stream or river, i.e., two branches. Presumably the surname identified someone who lived near a "twitchell".
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