Etymology

maul

M3A1U1L1

Today it means: A heavy long-handled hammer, used for splitting logs by driving a wedge into them, or in combat. Full definition →

Middle English malle ← Anglo-Norman mail ← Old French mail
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The story

  1. Latin · derived frommalleus“hammer”
  2. Old French · derived frommail
  3. Anglo-Norman · derived frommail
  4. Middle English · inherited frommalle“mace, maul”
  5. English todaymaul

From Middle English malle (“mace, maul”), from Anglo-Norman mail, from Old French mail, from Latin malleus (“hammer”). Doublet of malleus.

Words from the same roots

Latinmalleus all →

malleusmallein

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.