Windle

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. To gradually become smaller or fewer in amount ; to turn or coil something into a twisted or spiral form
2. To shrink or reduce progressively over time ; to rotate or wrap something into a wound or spiraled shape
3. To lessen and fade away ; to form into a winding or twisted configuration

Etymology: The most striking thing about "windle" is that it has at least four candidate origins, and the sources cannot settle among them. One line of descent runs through Old English "windel", meaning a basket, from a Germanic root meaning "to wrap" or "plaitwork", and that same root is tied to the Old English verb "windan", "to wind, twist". Another proposal traces it to "windelstrēaw", a coarse grass or reed, which the word would have shortened from. A third points to Old Norse "vindla", "to wind up", or Middle Dutch "windelen", "to turn around, spin", and a fourth simply suggests a derivation from "wind" itself. What ties these together is the idea of twisting and turning. Old English used related forms for a winding staircase, a hedge or border, and a sphere, all shapes built from coiling or looping. Whichever path is correct, the word's core sense is a thing wound or wrapped around.