Adzes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A hand tool utilized in carpentry that features a sharp, angled blade attached to a long handle for shaping and smoothing wood surfaces
2. Implements used in woodworking made up of a cutting edge at an angle on a handle, enabling precise shaping of timber
3. A woodworking tool consisting of a handle with a curved blade set at a right angle, used to carve and smooth wood

Etymology: "Adzes" is the plural of "adze," and the tool's name has been traced back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "axe" or "hatchet." That root shows up in Hittite, the ancient Anatolian language of Asia Minor, as "atešša," meaning axe or hatchet. The Germanic branch of the family carried the word north and west, where it became Old English "adesa" and "eadesa," which referred to this same kind of cutting tool. The English form came down through Middle English as "adse" and "adese," so the word has been in the language for many centuries, long before the modern tool was standardized. The name kept the broad sense of a cutting implement, and the blade's right-angled edge, which distinguishes it from an axe, is what separates the tool from its ancient relative.

Synonyms: axes, tools