Ridule

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic term for a coarse sieve used to separate larger material from finer grains or sand
2. A dated word for a rough sieve or screen that sorts out bigger particles from smaller ones
3. Describes an old-fashioned coarse sifting device used to strain out lumps from powder or grain

Etymology: A ridule was a sieve, the coarse kind used to shake chaff from grain or sift gravel and ash. The word is an older form of "riddle" in that sense, and it came into English from Old English "hriddel", which described the same kind of sieve. It is easy to confuse with the riddle that is a puzzle, but the two are unrelated. The puzzle comes from Old English "rǣdels", meaning a saying that needs interpreting, related to "read" in the sense of "explain". Both words had reached English by the Old English period, so they share a spelling only by coincidence. Ridule itself survives mainly in older dictionaries and dialect records.