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Added 9 October 2026

shackle

/ˈʃækl̩/ noun

In Latin: vincula Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about shackle at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A restraint that confines or restricts freedom (especially something used to tie down or restrain a prisoner).
A U-shaped bar; the open end can be passed through chain links and closed with a bar.

verb

Bind the arms of.
Restrain with fetters.

Origin

From Middle English shakel, schakkyl, schakle (“a fetter, shackle; coupling used to connect a plough or wagon to a draft chain”), from Old English sċacul, sċeacel, sċeacul (“fetter, shackle”), from Proto-West Germanic *skakul, from Proto-Germanic *skakulaz (“shackle”), possibly from *skakaną (“to shake; to swing; to escape”), from Proto-Indo-European *skeg-, *skek- (“to shake; to stir”). However, this is doubted by the Oxford English Dictionary because *skeg-, *skek- lack the meaning of attaching or fastening.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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