hatchet

Etymology

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”). Mostly displaced native Old English handæx, whence Modern English hand axe.

noun

  1. A small, light axe with a short handle; a tomahawk.

verb

  1. (transitive) To cut with a hatchet.

Attribution / Disclaimer All definitions come directly from Wiktionary using the Wiktextract library. We do not edit or curate the definitions for any words, if you feel the definition listed is incorrect or offensive please suggest modifications directly to the source (wiktionary/hatchet), any changes made to the source will update on this page periodically.