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kevel (KEV-uhl) - n., (naut.) a strong cleat, bollard, or cross-timber for securing a cable or hawser; a stonemason's hammer.
The cleat:
The hammer is for roughly dressing stone, flat on one side and wedged on the other. This should really be two separate entries, as those are different words with different etymologies -- the former is from Middle English kevile, rod/pin/hasp, from Anglo-French, wooden peg, from Latin clāvicula, little key, diminutive of clāvis, key, making it a doublet of clavicle; while the latter is from Middle English kevell, after which the trail disappears.
---L.
The cleat:
The hammer is for roughly dressing stone, flat on one side and wedged on the other. This should really be two separate entries, as those are different words with different etymologies -- the former is from Middle English kevile, rod/pin/hasp, from Anglo-French, wooden peg, from Latin clāvicula, little key, diminutive of clāvis, key, making it a doublet of clavicle; while the latter is from Middle English kevell, after which the trail disappears.
---L.
