heel

Heel, the back of the foot, is a native word; heel, to lean over, is from a different Old English verb.^[1][2]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /hiːl/ (UK); /hil/ (US)^[3]

heel¹ back of the foot

Etymology

The heel of the foot is inherited from Middle English hele, inherited from Old English hēla,^[1][4][2] from Proto-Germanic *hanhilaz, a diminutive,^[4][2] cognate with Old Frisian hēla, Dutch hiel and Old Norse hæll,^[1][4][2] related to hōh (“heel”) (see hock).^[1][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 850 in the OED, about 800 in Barnhart.^[6][1]

Semantic evolution

The back of a shoe or boot is from about 1400 in Etymonline, and the part of a stocking or shoe covering the heel is first recorded in Holinshed (1577–87) in Barnhart.^[4][1] In Middle English, to fight with one's heels meant to run away.^[4] Down at heels, with worn shoes and too poor to replace them, is from 1732,^[4] and Achilles' heel from 1810.^[6] The verb, to furnish with a heel, is from 1605.^[1][5] Heeled, provided with money, as in well-heeled, is American English from 1880, from the slang sense armed with a gun (1866, in Mark Twain).^[1] A contemptible person is American underworld slang from 1914, at first an incompetent criminal, probably the lowest one,^[1][4] and generalized by 1932, in Farrell's Studs Lonigan.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 850 – hēla.^[6]
• c. 1400 – the heel of a shoe.^[4]
• 1732 – down at heel.^[4]
• 1810 – Achilles' heel.^[6]
• 1880 – well-heeled.^[1]
• 1914 – a cad (slang).^[1]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The back part of the human foot below the ankle.
2. The part of a shoe, sock or stocking that covers or supports the heel.
3. (dated informal) A contemptible, untrustworthy person; a cad.

Verb

1. To fit a heel to a shoe.
2. Of a dog, to follow close behind.

Word family

• well-heeled
• high heels
• heelless

heel² lean over

Etymology

Heel, to lean, is an alteration of earlier hield (1559),^[1][2][5] itself inherited from Middle English helden (“to fall, bend, lean”),^[1] inherited from Old English hyldan (“to incline”) (also hieldan),^[1][5][2] cognate with Old Saxon heldian and Middle Dutch helden.^[1][2] The form heel probably arose from taking the -d of hield as a past-tense ending.^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1575 in Barnhart; the 16th century in Hoad.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

The noun, an act of heeling or the amount a ship leans, is from 1760.^[1][6][5]

Timeline

• c. 725 – hyldan.^[1]
• 1559 – hield.^[1]
• c. 1575 – heel.^[1]
• 1760 – a heel (noun).^[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. Of a ship, to lean over to one side, or to make it do so.

Noun

1. A tilt to one side.

Related words

• hock
• Achilles' heel

Usage notes

In Irish and south-western English dialect, to heel meant to slope or lean over, or to tip a cart.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)