anvil

Micrometer: note the anvil on the left

Meanings

Noun

Verb

  • To fashion on an anvil (often used figuratively).

Related

Similar words

Origin

  • From Middle English anfilt, anvelt, anfelt, from late Old English anfilt, anfilte, anfealt, from earlier onfilti, from Proto-West Germanic *anafalt (compare Middle Dutch anvilte, Low German Anfilts, Anefilt, Old High German anafalz), compound of *ana + *falt (compare German falzen ("to groove, fold, welt"), Swedish dialectal filta), from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂-t- ("shaken, beaten") (compare Middle Irish lethar ("leather"), Latin pellō ("to beat, strike"), Ancient Greek πάλλω ("to toss, brandish")), enlargement of Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- ("to stir, move"). More at felon.

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