cudgel

Meanings

Noun

• A short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon.
• Anything that can be used as a threat to force one's will on another.

Verb

• To strike with a cudgel.
• To exercise (one's wits or brains).

Origin

• From Middle English kuggel, from Old English cyċġel, from Proto-Germanic *kuggilaz, derivative of Proto-Germanic *kuggǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *gewgʰ-, from Proto-Indo-European *gew-, *gū-, equivalent to cog + --el. Cognate with Middle Dutch coghele.