tool

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tuːl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English tol, tool,^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English tōl (“instrument, implement; weapon”),^[2][3][5] from Proto-Germanic *tōwalan (“implement”),^[2][5] also the source of Old Norse tól,^[2][3][5] from a verb stem seen in Old English tawian “to prepare”, the source of taw,^[2][3][5][6] and Gothic taujan “to do, make”.^[3][4] The ending is the instrumental suffix -el.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Any instrument used by hand, an implement: about 888 in the OED,^[7] before 899 in Barnhart, in Alfred's translation of Boethius.^[3]

Semantic evolution

A weapon of war, especially a sword, is from about 1000, now archaic.^[7] The penis is so called in slang from the 1550s,^[2] after a general sense “sex organ” in the early 15th century.^[2] The figurative sense, a means to an end, especially a person used by another for his own ends, is from the 1660s;^[2] unlike instrument, it is generally used in a contemptuous sense.^[2] A useless fellow is slang by 1700.^[2] Johnson and Boswell discussed Franklin's definition of man as “a tool-making animal”.^[2] The verb meant to drive a coach in 1812,^[2][7][4] probably as if “to manage skilfully”,^[2] and to work stone with a tool by 1815, later of bookbinding (1836).^[2][7] To equip a factory with machine tools is from 1927,^[7][2] and slang tool up, to arm oneself, from 1959.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 888 – an implement.^[7]
• c. 1000 – a weapon.^[7]
• 1550s – the penis.^[2]
• 1660s – a person used by another.^[2]
• 1812 – verb, to drive.^[2][7]
• 1815 – verb, to work with a tool.^[2][7]
• 1927 – to equip with machine tools.^[7][2]
• 1959 – tool up, to arm oneself.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A hand-held device such as a hammer or saw, used to do manual or mechanical work.
2. A machine such as a lathe for cutting and shaping, or its cutting part.
3. Something that helps one do a job or achieve a purpose: a research tool.
4. A person used by another for his or her own ends; a dupe.
5. (computing) A program that performs a particular function.
6. (slang) The penis.

Verb

1. To work, shape or decorate with a tool, as a book cover.
2. To equip a factory with tools, also tool up.
3. (informal) To drive or travel in a vehicle, especially in a leisurely way.

Word family

• tooler
• toolless
• multitool
• retool
• toolbar
• toolbox
• toolholder
• toolhouse

Related words

• taw

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press