Screwhole

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small hole bored into wood, metal or another material to receive the threads of a screw
2. The opening drilled in a surface so that a screw can be fitted and driven into it
3. A pilot hole or recess made in a material to hold a screw firmly in place

Etymology: A screwhole is about as plain as compounds get: "screw" plus "hole," joined to name the opening a screw is driven into. There is no story of a coiner or a surprising shift here, just two old English-derived words put together in the ordinary way. The more useful thing to know is what the two parts carry. "Screw" entered English in Middle English from Old French "escroue" (nut, female screw), which came from medieval Latin "scrofa," a sow, a loose association with the spiral of the thread. "Hole" descends directly from Old English "hol," meaning a hollow place, and is related to "hollow" itself.