pickle (n.) Look up pickle at Dictionary.com c.1400, probably
from Middle Dutch pekel "pickle, brine," or related words in Low
German and East Frisian (Dutch pekel, East Frisian päkel, German
pökel), of uncertain origin or original meaning. Klein suggests
the name of a medieval Dutch fisherman who developed the
process. Originally a sauce served with meat or fowl; meaning
"cucumber preserved in pickle" first recorded 1707, via use of
the word for the salty liquid in which meat, etc. was preserved
(c.1500). Figurative sense of "sorry plight" first recorded
1560s, from the time when the word still meant a sauce served on
meat about to be eaten. Meaning "troublesome boy" is from 1788,
perhaps from the notion of being "imbued" with roguery. pickle
(v.) Look up pickle at Dictionary.com 1550s, from pickle (n.).
Related: Pickled; pickling.