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heel

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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.
  • 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)