Added 8 October 2026
tool
/tuːl/ noun
In Latin: instrūmentum, ferrāmentum Wiktionary
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about tool at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- An implement used in the practice of a vocation.
-
The means whereby some act is accomplished.
my greed was the instrument of my destruction
- A person who is controlled by others and is used to perform unpleasant or dishonest tasks for someone else.
verb
-
Drive.
The convertible tooled down the street
-
Ride in a car with no particular goal and just for the pleasure of it.
We tooled down the street
- Furnish with tools.
Origin
From Middle English tool, tol, from Old English tōl (“tool, implement, instrument”, literally “that with which one prepares something”), perhaps borrowed from Old Norse tól, but at any rate ultimately from Proto-Germanic *tōlą (“that which is used in preparation, tool”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- (“to tie to, secure”), equivalent to taw (“to prepare”) + -le (agent suffix). Cognate with Scots tuil (“tool, implement, instrument, device”), Icelandic tól (“tool”), Faroese tól (“tool, instrument”). Related to Old English tāwian (“to make, prepare, or cultivate”); see taw, and tow ("fibres used for spinning").
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)