Other forms: twinges
A twinge is a sudden brief sharp pain or feeling. A twinge in the back, a twinge of guilt, felt a twinge.
Brevity is the whole word — a twinge is over before you can attend to it, which is why it suits both a muscle and a conscience. A twinge of guilt, of regret or of envy is the standard figurative use and always mild. Note that the Old English verb meant to pinch, which is exactly what a twinge feels like.
1nountwingeA sudden brief sharp pain.
“She felt a twinge in her knee as she walked down the stairs.”
2nounmildA brief mild pang of feeling.
“She felt a twinge of jealousy when her sister got engaged.”
twinge is a brief sharp feeling.
Old English twengan meant to pinch or squeeze. Tweak and twitch come from the same pinching.
Proto-Indo-European
*twenk- — to press, pressure, squeeze
Proto-Germanic
*twangijaną — to pinch, squeeze
Proto-West Germanic
*twangijan — to pinch, squeeze
Old English
twenġan — to pinch, squeeze
Middle English
twengen — to nip, pinch, tweak; to tear at
English, today
twinge
Built from
The verb is derived from Middle English twengen (“to nip, pinch, tweak; to tear at”), from Old English twenġan (“to pinch, squeeze”), from Proto-West Germanic twangijan (“to pinch, squeeze”), from Proto-Germanic twangijaną (“to pinch, squeeze”), the causative form of twinganą (“to press, squeeze”); further etymology uncertain, possibly related to þwangiz (“belt, strap, thong; pressure, restraint”) or þwinganą, þwinhaną (“to constrain; to force”) (whence German zwingen), both ultimately from Proto-Indo-European twenk- (“to press, pressure, squeeze”). However, the Oxford English Dictionary says there is no evidence for such a relationship. The noun is derived from the verb.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire