Hatchel

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A tool used for combing or separating fibers, especially in the processing of flax or hemp
2. An implement consisting of a board with metal teeth for detangling materials
3. A device historically employed in textile manufacturing to prepare raw materials for spinning or weaving

Etymology: The tool sense of "hatchel" is a hook-studded comb used to pull and straighten flax or hemp fibres before spinning, and the word's name comes from the same idea as its shape. It descends from Middle English "hechele", which belongs to a West Germanic family whose root is linked to "hook". The comb's teeth were the hooks, catching and drawing out the tangled fibres. The word is a doublet of "hackle" and "heckle", meaning that all three forms come from the same ancestor but reached English along slightly different paths and took on separate uses. "Heckle" and "hackle" have their own histories in English, and the family shows how one ancient tool-name split into several familiar words.

Synonyms: hackle, heckle