tool

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*dewh₂-“to tie to, secure”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*tōlą“that which is used in preparation, tool”
3. Old Norse · derived fromtól
4. Old English · inherited fromtōl“tool, implement, instrument”
5. Middle English · inherited fromtool
6. English todaytool

From Middle English tool, tol, from Old English tōl (“tool, implement, instrument”, literally “that with which one prepares something”), perhaps borrowed from Old Norse tól, but at any rate ultimately from Proto-Germanic *tōlą (“that which is used in preparation, tool”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- (“to tie to, secure”), equivalent to taw (“to prepare”) + -le (agent suffix). Cognate with Scots tuil (“tool, implement, instrument, device”), Icelandic tól (“tool”), Faroese tól (“tool, instrument”). Related to Old English tāwian (“to make, prepare, or cultivate”); see taw, and tow ("fibres used for spinning").

Words from the same roots