friemeln

Betekenis (Engels)

1. (weak) to fiddle; to move something in one's hands, especially by rubbing it between thumb and forefinger
2. (broadly, weak) to do delicate manual tasks, such as inserting a thread through the eye of a needle or undoing a tangle, implying either laboriousness of the task or clumsiness of them who do it

Sinonieme

wurschteln

nesteln

tüfteln

fummeln

fingern

frickeln

pfriemeln

herumfriemeln

rumfuckeln

knispeln

fieseln

rumfummeln

rumfuhrwerken

rumstochern

prokeln

rumprokeln

herumfrickeln

basteln

herumprobieren

Uitgespreek as (IPA)

/ˈfriːməln/

Etimologie (Engels)

Verwante met Nederlands: friemelen

Verwante met Middle Dutch: wriemelen

In summary

20th century, from Low German and Central Franconian dialects. Cognate to Dutch friemelen (“to fiddle, fidget”). Probably the same as Dutch and Middle Dutch wriemelen (“to move back and forth”, intransitive and transitive), Low German wrimen (“to rub”), with a development from wr- to fr-, which is widespread among dialects of all the relevant languages. Philippa (Etymologisch Woordenboek, 2003-09) casts doubt on this because wriemelen also means “to swarm” (of a collective). This collective sense need not be the oldest, however. In fact, the first attestation has the sense “to move back and forth with exertion” (of a man during sexual intercourse), and the sense “to fiddle, fidget” is attested for the wr-form as well. Philippa prefers to derive friemelen from frommelen (“to fidget”) and this in turn from fommelen (German fummeln). However, frommelen shows variants with wr- as well and is also regionally more restricted.