Noodle
late 18th century: from German Nudel, of unknown origin.
wiktionary
Its early plural form noodlejees suggests a Dutch origin; from Dutch noedel(“noodle”) [1], from German Nudel(“piece of pasta, noodle”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from an alteration of German Knödel(“dumpling”), from German Knoten(“knot”) or from Latin minutulus(“very small, tiny”) in the sense of "to chop (food) into small pieces" [2] or Latin nodulus(“little knot”). The senses "fool" and "brain, head" are probably unrelated. [3]
etymonline
noodle (n.1)
"long, narrow strip of dried dough," 1779, from German Nudel, which is of unknown origin. West Flemish noedel and French nouille are German loan-words.
noodle (v.)
"improvise or play casually on a musical instrument," 1937 (implied in noodling), from noun meaning "improvised music," 1926, perhaps from noodle (n.), on analogy of the suppleness of the food and that of the trills and improvised phrases in jazz improvisations. Related: Noodled.
noodle (n.2)
"head," early 15c., nodel, "head, back of the head," perhaps from Latin nodulus (see nodule). The meaning "simpleton, stupid person" (1753) probably is derived from it. Noodle-thatcher was old slang for "wig-maker" (1716).
