Splint comes from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German splinte ('metal plate, pin'), related to the Germanic base meaning 'to split'. The historical chain includes Middle Dutch splinte. Older glosses in the chain include "metal plate, pin" and "to split", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, splint is best read as borrowing, yielding an English noun and verb shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a noun and verb, with the sense "a rigid strip used to immobilize a broken or injured limb". English derivatives include splinter; related forms include splinter. The result is an English noun and verb whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.