Battel

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic or variant term referring to a small living allowance or provisions given to servants or laborers; a historical word related to sustenance or rations; an old spelling resembling a term for supplies or provisions
2. A now seldom-used expression denoting a modest quantity of food or support provided to workers; a historical phrase linked to servants’ grants; an obsolete term akin to a ration or parcel of provisions
3. A bygone word describing a minimal amount of victuals or maintenance allotted to employees; a traditional term associated with servant nourishment; an old-fashioned term similar to a supply or allowance of food

Etymology: Few English words look as different from their root as this one. It is a doublet of "battle": both descend from Old French "bataille," which came from Late Latin "battalia," a term for military exercises. The Latin source, "battuere," meant "to strike, beat, fight," and it is thought to derive from a Gaulish root. English took the word twice, once as "battle" and once, in Middle English, as "batel." Over the centuries "batel" drifted far from the battlefield. In its modern sense it names a servant's food allowance, a meaning that has little obvious connection to fighting. The two forms show how one ancient word can split into two English words with unrelated everyday uses.