Vetchling
/ˈvɛtʃlɪŋ/noun
Any of several climbing or trailing plants in the pea family, especially in the genus Lathyrus.
Did you know?Vetchling is built from vetch + the diminutive suffix -ling, and vetch itself comes through Old English from Latin vicia, a very old bean-family name tied to ancient farming.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*weik-
“A root associated with bending, pliancy, or yielding; the deeper ancestry of the vetch/vicia word-family is not fully certain.”
Latin
Latin
vīcia
“The name of the vetch plant.”
Old English
OE
fǣcce?
“No secure Old English form is directly attested for vetchling; the later English word is built from the inherited vetch name and the diminutive suffix.”
Middle English
English
vetch + -ling
“A small vetch; a vetch-like plant.”
Modern English
English
vetchling
“A plant of the pea family, especially one in the genus Lathyrus.”