Etymology

hilt

H4I1L1T1

Today it means: The handle of a sword, consisting of grip, guard, and pommel, designed to facilitate use of the blade and afford protection to the hand. Full definition →

Middle English hilt ← Old English hilt ← Proto-Germanic *heltą
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kel-“to strike, cut”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*heltą
  3. Old English · inherited fromhilt
  4. Middle English · inherited fromhilt
  5. English todayhilt

From Middle English hilt, hilte, from Old English hilt, hilte, from Proto-Germanic *heltą, *heltǭ, *heltō, *hiltijō, (compare Old Norse hjalt, Old High German helza, Old Saxon helta), from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to strike, cut”) (see holt).

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*kel- all →

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Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.