Meaning

noun causing to move repeatedly from side to side

verb move from side to side

verb move unsteadily or with a weaving or rolling motion

originFrom Middle English wagelen (attested in wagelyng), possibly a borrowing of Middle Low German wagelen; equivalent to wag + -le (“(frequentative)”). Compare continental equivalents Middle High German wacken ( > Danish vakle, German wackeln), Swedish vagla, West Frisian waggelje, Low German wackeln, Dutch waggelen.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0