pickle

Where does the word "pickle" come from? It comes from Middle Dutch pekel, passing through Middle English before entering English (1560s).

Pickle’s story begins in Middle Dutch: pekel meant “brine.” A salty brine for preserving fish, vital to the Dutch herring trade. By 1400s, the word had taken hold in Middle English as pikel. First a spicy sauce, then preserved vegetables. It reached English by 1560s as pickle. 'in a pickle', in trouble, borrowed from a Dutch phrase meaning soaked in brine. Today, pickle means a vegetable preserved in brine or vinegar; a difficult situation.

1. Stage 1 · Middle Dutch · medieval pekel "brine", a salty brine for preserving fish, vital to the Dutch herring trade.
2. Stage 2 · Middle English · 1400s pikel "a sauce; brine", first a spicy sauce, then preserved vegetables.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1560s pickle "preserved food; a predicament", 'in a pickle', in trouble, borrowed from a Dutch phrase meaning soaked in brine.