Link Centre Dictionary

hatchet

hatc·het

UK/ˈhæt͡ʃɪt/ US/ˈhætʃʌt/ fairly common

noun

1.

weapon consisting of a fighting ax; used by North American indians

Synonyms
2.

short ax used to chop wood

Origin

From Middle English hachet, a borrowing from Old French hachete, diminutive of hache (“axe”), from Vulgar Latin *happia, from Frankish *happjā, from Proto-Germanic *hapjǭ, *habjǭ (“knife”), from Proto-Indo-European *kop- (“to strike, to beat”). Cognate with Old High German happa, heppa, habba (“reaper, sickle”), German Hippe (“billhook”), Dutch heep, hiep (“billhook”), and Ancient Greek κοπίς (kopís). Mostly displaced native Old English handæx, whence Modern English hand axe.

Phrases

  • bury the hatchet
  • hatchet face
  • hatchet job
  • hatchet man
  • hatchet wound
  • sling the hatchet
  • take up the hatchet
  • throw the hatchet

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.