Swages

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A tool used to shape or form materials by applying pressure
2. A specific type of die designed to create particular contours in metalworking
3. A device that can also be employed in jewelry making to mold and finish wire or metal pieces

Etymology: Swages are tools used to shape metal, and the plural form belongs to "swage," a noun whose history runs through a surprising detour. The word's ancestor was a decorative groove. In Old French, "souage" described a channel or groove cut into a surface for ornament, and that sense came from "soue," meaning rope. The image is literal: a rope-like twist pressed into a surface leaves a repeated channel behind, and the metalworking tool that presses a contour into metal inherited that idea of a groove shaped by a cord. The English form took a shortcut. Middle English "swage" came from Middle French "souage," and the word also appears as "assuage" through a process called aphesis, where an unstressed opening syllable drops off. The result is that "swage" and the familiar verb "assuage," meaning to soothe or relieve, are etymological cousins, even though they now share almost no meaning. Both trace back to the same Old French stock, and the tool-making sense is the older, more physical one.