Etymology

pitwheel

P3I1T1W4H4E1E1L1

Today it means: A wheel forming part of the machinery in a watermill, mounted on the opposite end of the axle to the waterwheel, and driving the wallower on the upright shaft or layshaft. Full definition →

English wheel ← Middle English whel ← Old English hwēol
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The story

  1. Proto-West Germanic*puti
  2. Old Englishpytt
  3. Middle Englishpit
  4. Englishpit
  5. Proto-Indo-European*kʷelh₁-redup.
  6. Proto-Indo-European*kʷekʷléh₂
  7. Proto-Germanic*hweulō
  8. Old Englishhwēol
  9. Middle Englishwhel
  10. Englishwheel
  11. English todaypitwheel

From pit + wheel.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.