An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Klüngel

by Friedrich Kluge

Klüngel, n., ‘clew,’ from MidHG. *klüngel, klüngelîn, OHG. chlungilîn, n., ‘clew,’ dimin. of OHG. chlunga, f., ‘clew’; if ng be a suffix, as in jung, the word may be allied to Knäuel, OHG. chliuwa (root klu, Aryan glu), in which case it would be brought into connection with other terms; it is, however, more probably allied to E. to cling, from AS. clingan, ‘to cling to, hold fast, adhere.’