gnarled

Etymology

First attested in Shakespeare, 1603: "Thy sharpe and sulpherous bolt Splits the vn-wedgable [unwedgable] and gnarled Oke [oak]" (Measure for Measure, Act II, scene ii, line 116). It is a variant of knurled, from knurl; on the surface it analyses as gnarl plus -ed, though gnarl is in fact a later back-formation. It became popular in the 19th century.