cordel

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noun

Spanish chain, a traditional Spanish and Mexican unit of distance equivalent to about 41.9 m.

OriginSpanish cordel ← Catalan cordell ← Vulgar Latin *cordellus →
Scrabble 9
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Meanings

nouncordel (plural cordels or cordeles)

plural cordels · plural cordeles

  1. historicalSpanish chain, a traditional Spanish and Mexican unit of distance equivalent to about 41.9 m.

Origin

  1. Latinchorda“rope, cord”
  2. Vulgar Latin*cordellus“little rope”
  3. Catalancordell“cord, string”
  4. Spanishcordel“surveying rope, 50 varas”
  5. Englishcordel

From Spanish cordel (“surveying rope, 50 varas”), from Catalan cordell (“cord, string”), from Vulgar Latin *cordellus (“little rope”), from Latin chorda (“rope, cord”) + -ellus (“-elle: forming diminutives”). Equivalent to cord + -el.

More words from Spanish, Catalan, Vulgar Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cordlecedrol
Cite this entry
APA

cordel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cordel

MLA

“cordel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cordel. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cordel,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cordel.

Source: cordel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.