Lathes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A machine tool for shaping material by rotating it against a cutting tool
2. An apparatus that enables the turning of workpieces, allowing for the crafting of cylindrical forms and precise cuts
3. A device utilized in manufacturing to create various products through controlled friction and material removal techniques

Etymology: The machine that shapes wood or metal by spinning it against a cutting tool is named after a word for a pile of something. In Old Norse, "hlað" meant a heap or pile, and from the verb "hlaða", "to load", it came to describe a stack or support frame. Scandinavian dialects kept that sense for stands and frames: a Danish "drejelad" was a turning-lathe, and a Swedish "lad" was a folding table. Middle English borrowed the word for the turning machine, which took its name from the frame that held the work. "Lathes" is simply the plural of "lathe". That same spelling is also tied to a separate English word, "lathe", a thin strip of wood used in plaster walls, but the machine sense has the Norse origin described above. Some older English dictionaries also list an Old English word "lǣþ", meaning a district of a county, as a source, but that is a different word with a different history.