Etymology

chisel

C3H4I1S1E1L1

Today it means: A cutting tool used to remove parts of stone, wood or metal by pushing or pounding the back when the sharp edge is against the material. It consists of a slim, oblong block of metal with a sharp wedge or bevel formed on one end and sometimes a handle at the other end; there are hand tool versions (the original type) and versions as bits for power tools. Full definition →

Middle English chisel ← Anglo-Norman chise ← Old French cisel
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

chisel · noun, verb1

  1. Late Latincīsōrium
  2. Old Frenchcisoir
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  5. Old Frenchcisel
  6. Anglo-Normanchise
  7. Middle Englishchisel
  8. English todaychisel

From Middle English chisel, chesel, from Old Northern French chisel, cisel, from cisoir (with a change in suffix), from Late Latin cīsōrium (“cutting tool”), from Latin caedō (“cut”). Doublet of scissors.

chisel · noun2

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*kesul“small stone, pebble”
  2. Old English · inherited fromċeosol
  3. Middle English · inherited fromchisel
  4. English todaychisel

From Middle English chisel, chesil, from Old English ċeosol, ċeosel, ċysel, ċisel, ċisil (“gravel, sand”), from Proto-West Germanic *kesul (“small stone, pebble”). See also chessom.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishchisel all →

chessil

Proto-West Germanic*kesul all →

chessil

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.