different between whittle vs chisel

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???t?l/, /?w?t?l/
• Rhymes: -?t?l

Etymology 1

From Middle English whittel (“large knife”), an alteration of thwitel, itself from thwiten (“to whittle”), from Old English þw?tan (“to strike down, whittle”), from Proto-Germanic *þw?tan?, from Proto-Indo-European *tweys- (“to shake, hurl, toss”). Compare Old Norse þveita (“to hurl”), Ancient Greek ???? (seí?, “I shake”). Related to thwite and thwaite.

Noun

whittle (plural whittles)

1. A knife; especially, a pocket knife, sheath knife, or clasp knife.
   • 1682, John Dryden and Nathaniel Lee, The Duke of Guise

     A butcher's whittle.

   • 1873, Alfred Gatty, Sheffield: past and present

     The Sheffield whittle was the common knife of the country , which every one carried for general purposes , who was not entitled by rank to wear a sword

Translations

Verb

whittle (third-person singular simple present whittles, present participle whittling, simple past and past participle whittled)

1. (transitive or intransitive) To cut or shape wood with a knife.
2. (transitive) To reduce or gradually eliminate something (such as a debt).
3. (transitive, figuratively) To make eager or excited; to excite with liquor; to inebriate.
   • 1554, John Withals, A Dictionarie in English and Latine

     When men are well whitled, their toungs run at randome

Derived terms

• whittle down
• whittling

Translations

Etymology 2

From Old English hwitel, equivalent to white +? -le; akin to an Icelandic word for a white bedcover.

Noun

whittle (plural whittles)

1. (archaic) A coarse greyish double blanket worn by countrywomen, in the west of England, over the shoulders, like a cloak or shawl.
   • 1857, Charles Kingsley, Two Years Ago

     Her figure is tall , graceful , and slight ; the severity of its outlines suiting well with the severity of her dress , with the brown stuff gown , and plain gray whittle

2. (archaic) A whittle shawl; a kind of fine woollen shawl, originally and especially a white one.

References

• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “whittle”, in Online Etymology Dictionary
• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?t??z?l/
• Rhymes: -?z?l

Etymology 1

From Middle English chisel, chesel, borrowed from Old Northern French chisel, from Vulgar Latin *cisellum, from *caesellum, from Latin caesus, past participle of caedere (“to cut”).

Noun

chisel (plural chisels)

1. A cutting tool used to remove parts of stone, wood or metal by pushing or pounding the back when the sharp edge is against the material. It consists of a slim, oblong block of metal with a sharp wedge or bevel formed on one end and sometimes a handle at the other end.

Translations

See also

• burin
• gouge
• graver

Verb

chisel (third-person singular simple present chisels, present participle chiseling or chiselling, simple past and past participle chiseled or chiselled)

1. (intransitive) To use a chisel.
2. (transitive) To work something with a chisel.

3. (intransitive, informal) To cheat, to get something by cheating.

Usage notes

chiselling and chiselled are more common in the UK while chiseling and chiseled are more common in the US.

Derived terms

• chiseler, chiseller
• chisel in on

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English chisel, chesil, from Old English ?eosol, ?eosel, ?ysel, ?isel, ?isil (“gravel, sand”), from Proto-West Germanic *kisil (“small stone, pebble”). See also chessom.

Alternative forms

• chesil
• chissel, chessil (dialectal)

Noun

chisel (usually uncountable, plural chisels)

1. Gravel.
2. (usually in the plural) Coarse flour; bran; the coarser part of bran or flour.

Related terms

• chessom

Further reading

• chisel in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• chisel in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• chisel at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Schlei, chiels, chiles, elchis, lechis, liches, sichel

Middle English

Alternative forms

• chesel

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman chisel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t??i?s??l/, /?t??is?l/, /?t??e?s?l/

Noun

chisel (plural chisels)

1. Any of several cutting tools used by stone masons.

Descendants

• English: chisel
• Yola: chisool

References

• “chis??l, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old French

Noun

chisel m (oblique plural chiseaus or chiseax or chisiaus or chisiax or chisels, nominative singular chiseaus or chiseax or chisiaus or chisiax or chisels, nominative plural chisel)

1. Alternative form of cisel