An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/trendeln

by Friedrich Kluge

trendeln, trenteln, verb, ‘to dawdle, loiter,’ literally ‘to turn, move this way and that,’ from late Middle High German tręndeln, ‘to turn,’ allied to Middle High German tręndel, ‘ball, top,’ which, like Anglo-Saxon tręndel, ‘sphere’ (English trendle), and Dutch omtrent, ‘towards, on, about’ (Danish and Swedish trind, ‘round’), are connected with a root trend, ‘to move in a circle.’