Awl

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɔːl/

Definitions

1. A sharp, pointed implement is designed to puncture or make holes in soft materials like leather or wood for various crafting tasks
2. A pointed instrument utilized for boring holes into softer substances such as wood and leather for the purpose of crafting or assembly
3. A slender pointed tool used to pierce holes in leather or wood during handcrafting

Etymology: The awl is one of the few English words whose spelling was pulled off course by a near-twin. Its own Old English ancestor, "æl", was a plain name for the pointed tool, but a rival Old English word, "awel" or "awul", meant the same thing and had a different origin: its root meant "fork" or "hook." Over the centuries the two words blended in spelling, which is why the "w" sits in a word whose sound never had one. The older form has a surprisingly wide family. Dutch "aal", German "Ahle", Low German "Ahl" and Icelandic "alur" all name the same tool, showing that the word was already shared across the Germanic languages long before English writers put it on paper. Its deeper ancestry reaches back to a Proto-Indo-European root whose exact meaning is uncertain. Just as the word's sound was reshaped by its neighbour, the English language kept a close partner for it: "elsen", a doublet, came into English from the same Old English root by a different route, leaving two forms of one ancient tool.

Synonyms: tool, piercer, spike