Swingel

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A flat wooden blade used to beat flax stalks and separate the fibres from the woody core ; a swingletree, the crossbar to which traces of a draft animal are fastened
2. The wooden paddle used in scutching flax to knock away the woody parts ; the pivoted bar on a plough or cart that spreads the pull of the traces between animals
3. A beating tool made of wood for processing flax fibre ; a balanced wooden bar attached to harness traces so that a horse or ox can pull evenly

Etymology: The tool's name is older than the flax industry it served. Old English had "swingel" meaning "whip" or "scourge," and the object was named for the action of striking. The word is built from "swing" with the suffix "-le," which in this case marks repeated or frequentative action, so the core idea is something that swings again and again. The same root travelled into Middle Dutch as "swingel" and "swengel," and the modern Dutch "zwingel" and "zwengel" still survive. English has kept two forms of the same word, "swingel" and "swingle," which makes them doublets of one another. The verb "to swingle," meaning to beat flax, came later in Middle English and was formed from the noun.

Synonyms: swingle, flail