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fardel (FAHR-dl) - n., a pack or bundle, a burden; a fourth part of something.
The two parts are actually different words with different derivations. The former is what's meant when Hamlet talks about those "who would fardels bear, / To grunt and sweat under a weary life" in the to-be-or-not-to-be speech. It came into English around 1300 from Old French fardel, diminutive of farde, parcel/package/small pack, which is sometimes traced to Arabic fardah, single pack or half a camel load. The latter comes from Old English, from the same root as fourth and farthing, one quarter of a penny, and mainly survived in this sense as a unit of land.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
The two parts are actually different words with different derivations. The former is what's meant when Hamlet talks about those "who would fardels bear, / To grunt and sweat under a weary life" in the to-be-or-not-to-be speech. It came into English around 1300 from Old French fardel, diminutive of farde, parcel/package/small pack, which is sometimes traced to Arabic fardah, single pack or half a camel load. The latter comes from Old English, from the same root as fourth and farthing, one quarter of a penny, and mainly survived in this sense as a unit of land.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
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