Kevel

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A pair of horn-like projections on a ship's deck or dock used for securing and holding ropes
2. A nautical fitting with two horns, fixed to a vessel or quay, around which mooring lines are made fast
3. A cleat or post on a boat or wharf, shaped with horns, that a rope can be wrapped around to hold it

Etymology: A kevel is a short post or cleat on a ship or quay, around which mooring lines are looped. Its name starts as a tool, not a fitting. In Middle English, "kevel" (or "kavel") meant a large stonemason's hammer, and the word came into English from Old Norse "kefli" or "kafli," which meant a cylinder, a stick, or a piece of wood. The hammer's shape, a stout rod with a heavy head, was apparently the link that carried the name from the workshop to the waterfront. Over time the word narrowed. English dialects kept "kevil" and "cavel" for rods, poles and large hammers, and the sense of a fixed post for tying up a vessel grew out of that general idea of a squat, sturdy piece of timber or metal. Its close relatives in Scandinavian languages still point to the same root: Icelandic "kefli" means a cylinder or a stick, and Danish "kievle" means a roller.

Synonyms: cleat, belaying pin