wootz

W4O1O1T1Z10
/wuːts/

noun

A type of steel from India, much admired for making sword blades.

OriginKannada ಉಕ್ಕು ← Telugu ఉక్కు →
Scrabble 17
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Meanings

nounwootz (countable and uncountable, plural wootzes)

plural wootzes

  1. countableuncountableA type of steel from India, much admired for making sword blades.

    The celebrated wootz or steel of India, made in little cakes of only about two pounds weight, possesses qualities which no European steel can surpass.

    1863, Samuel Smiles, Industrial Biography
    1 more example

    The ferrum Indicum of the Classics may still be represented by the famous Wootz or Wutz, the 'natural Indian steel,' still so much prized for Sword-blades in Persia and Afghanistan.

    1884, Richard F[rancis] Burton, “The Proto-Sideric or Early Iron Age of Weapons”, in The Book of the Sword, London: Chatto and Windus, […], →OCLC, page 110

Origin

  1. Teluguఉక్కు“steel”
  2. Kannadaಉಕ್ಕು
  3. Englishwootz

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, probably from a misreading of wook, an English transcription of (the root of) Kannada ಉಕ್ಕು (ukku),ಉರ್ಕು (urku, “steel”), Telugu ఉక్కు (ukku, “steel”); akin to Tamil உருகு (uruku, “to melt”) and உருக்கு (urukku, “melted thing, steel”).

More words from Kannada, Telugu

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with wootz

bootsrootsshootsCouttskibbutzcahootsVaduz
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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