Citations:gremlin

English citations of gremlin

From Middle English gremly (“terrible”) (compare Old English gremman, gremian (“to provoke; irritate; anger; vex”)) +‎ -lin, -ling.

possible cognates

German grämen (“to make unhappy; to trouble, worry; to be unhappy; to feel sorrow”)
Swedish gräma (“to grieve”)

Relocated here from the entry page as it does not appear in the OED, and the word gremlin has not been found before the 1920s.