marlinspike
Jul. 27th, 2010 07:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prettygoodwordmarlinspike, marlinespike, or marlingspike (MAHR-lin-speyek) - n., a metal spike used to separate strands of a rope while splicing.
First recorded in the 1620s, but who knows how long the jargon was around before it was written down. The original form is marling spike, from marl, to wind a rope with marline, a light two-stranded tarred rope used to tie off larger cables, borrowed in the early 15th century from Dutch marlijn, from marren, to tie + lijn, line. Which gives you something of the use of the spike.
---L.
First recorded in the 1620s, but who knows how long the jargon was around before it was written down. The original form is marling spike, from marl, to wind a rope with marline, a light two-stranded tarred rope used to tie off larger cables, borrowed in the early 15th century from Dutch marlijn, from marren, to tie + lijn, line. Which gives you something of the use of the spike.
---L.
