chattel

The story

1. Latin · derived fromcapitālis“of the head”
2. Medieval Latin · derived fromcapitāle
3. Old French · derived fromchatel
4. Middle English · inherited fromchatel
5. English todaychattel

From Middle English chatel, from Old French chatel, from Medieval Latin capitāle (English capital), from Latin capitālis (“of the head”), from caput (“head”) + -alis (“-al”). Compare the doublet cattle (“cows”), which is from an Anglo-Norman variant. Compare also capital and kith and kine (“all one’s possessions”), which also use “cow” to mean “property”.

Words from the same roots