hatchet

C2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈhæt͡ʃɪt/ See IPA manual

Freq #14102

Meanings

1

noun
A small, light axe with a short handle; a tomahawk.

“It must be admitted, Nick, you are a very literal logician—‘dog won't eat dog,’ is our English saying. Still the Yankee will fight the Yengeese, it would seem. In a word, the Great Father, in England, has raised the hatchet against his American children.”.
2

noun
Belligerence, animosity; harsh criticism.

To bury the hatchet.
3

noun
a small ax with a short handle used with one hand (usually to chop wood)
4

noun
weapon consisting of a fighting ax

Thesaurus

Synonyms

4 noun · weapon consisting of a... tomahawk

Word family

Derived forms hatchet-facedhatchetationhatchetfishhatchetlikehatchety

Appears in

Idioms (1)

See all

bury the hatchet
to reconcile with someone and bring a quarrel to an end

Simplified etymology

Hatchet entered English in the Middle Ages from French hachette, which derives from hache, meaning “an axe.”

Etymology

From Middle English hachet, a borrowing from Old French hachete, diminutive of hache (“axe”), from Vulgar Latin *happia, from Frankish *happjā, from Proto-Germanic *hapjǭ, *habjǭ (“knife”), from Proto-Indo-European *kop- (“to strike, to beat”). Cognate with Old High German happa, heppa, habba (“reaper, sickle”), German Hippe (“billhook”), Dutch heep, hiep (“billhook”), and Ancient Greek κοπίς (kopís). Mostly displaced native Old English handæx, whence Modern English hand axe.

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# hatchet

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈhæt͡ʃɪt/
**Frequency rank:** 14102

## Meanings
1. A small, light axe with a short handle; a tomahawk.
2. Belligerence, animosity; harsh criticism.
3. a small ax with a short handle used with one hand (usually to chop wood)
4. weapon consisting of a fighting ax

## Examples
- “It must be admitted, Nick, you are a very literal logician—‘dog won't eat dog,’ is our English saying. Still the Yankee will fight the Yengeese, it would seem. In a word, the Great Father, in England, has raised the hatchet against his American children.”.
- To bury the hatchet.

## Derived Forms
- hatchet-faced
- hatchetation
- hatchetfish
- hatchetlike
- hatchety

## Etymology
From Middle English hachet, a borrowing from Old French hachete, diminutive of hache (“axe”), from Vulgar Latin *happia, from Frankish *happjā, from Proto-Germanic *hapjǭ, *habjǭ (“knife”), from Proto-Indo-European *kop- (“to strike, to beat”). Cognate with Old High German happa, heppa, habba (“reaper, sickle”), German Hippe (“billhook”), Dutch heep, hiep (“billhook”), and Ancient Greek κοπίς (kopís). Mostly displaced native Old English handæx, whence Modern English hand axe.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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