▪ I. hatchel, n.
(ˈhætʃ(ə)l)
Forms: α. 4 hechele, hechil, 5 hychele, 6–7 hetchell, -ill, hichel, 7 (9– dial. and U.S.) hetchel, hitchel. β. 7–9 hatchel(l.
[A parallel form to hackle n.2, q.v. for etymological relations. Of the various Eng. forms, hechele (hetchel) and hekele, are the earlier, and appear to be the southern and northern forms of OE. *hęcel; while hackle and hatchel point to a parallel form *hæcel. Hatchel may be merely a late variant of hetchel with the vowel assimilated to hackle; hitchel seems to be a casual variant.]
An instrument for combing flax or hemp; = hackle n.2, heckle. See also hetchel n.
| α a 1300 Sat. People Kildare xix. in E.E.P. (1862) 155 Ich makid on of ȝou sit opon a hechil. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 595/12 Mataxa, an hychele. 1530 Palsgr. 231/1 Hetchell for flaxe, serancq, serant. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. ii. 261 Spindles, reeles, distaffes, and hitchels for flaxe. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Hichel. 1869 Mrs. Stowe Oldtown Folks xlii. 530 She don' know no more 'bout religion than an old hetchel. 1900 J. Shelton Salt-box House xvii. 143 Mops were made of corn-husks bound to a handle, the husks having been drawn through a hetchel which shredded them. |
| β 1611 Cotgr., Ferreur, a flax-combe, or hatchell. 1656 W. D. tr. Comenius' Gate Lat. Unl. ¶385 They are..hatchelled with an iron hatchell. 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 54 A Hatchell..has forty sharp-pointed iron teeth, one foot long, fixed in wood. 1853 J. S. Barry Hist. Sk. Hanover, Mass. 38 The hatchel, and swingling-knife, alas! are numbered..with the things that were but are not! |
b. attrib. and Comb., as hatchel-maker, hatchel-teeth.
| 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 595/14 Mataxarius, an hychel⁓maker. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 4 Kembed with hetchell teeth of yron. 1721–2 in Hist. Northfield, Mass. (1875) 160 To making 36 hatchel teeth 0 3 0. |
▪ II. hatchel, v.
Forms: α. 4 hecchele, 5 hychele, 6 hetchyll, 7 (9– dial. and U.S.) hetchel, hitchel. β. 6 hachell, 6–9 hatchel(l.
[f. prec.; cf. hackle, heckle.]
1. a. trans. To dress (flax or hemp) with a hatchel; to hackle.
| α c 1325 Gloss. W. de Biblesw. in Wright Voc. 156 La serence [gloss the hechele] dont pernet E vostre lyn serencet [gloss hechelet]. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. xcvii. (Tollem. MS.), [Flax] is knokked and bett..ribbed and hecchelid [1535 heckled] and sponne. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 595/11 Mataxo, to hychele. 1530 Palsgr. 583/2, I hetchyll, je cerance. 1649 W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (1653) 260–1 Hetchelling and dressing it up. |
| β 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Serancer du lin, too hatchell flaxe. 1608 Heywood Lucrece ii. ii. (Song), She her flaxe and tow did hatchel. 1692 Lond. Gaz. No. 2729/4 Breaking, Swingling, and preparing it to be Hatchelled. 1883 Harper's Mag. Aug. 390/1 The flax is..hatchelled to..arrange the fibres for spinning. |
b. transf.
| 1845 S. Judd Margaret i. xiii. 100 The clouds hung low, and their floating skirts seemed to be pierced and hetchelled by the trees. |
2. fig. To harass, worry; cf. heckle. rare.
| 1800 Aurora (Phila.) 20 Oct. (Th.), They have..hatchelled them with prosecutions, fines, and imprisonments. 1833 Carlyle Cagliostro in Misc. Ess. (1888) V. 95 Bewritted, fleeced, hatchelled, bewildered and bedevilled. 1878 Harper's Mag. LVII. 576 She'll hetchel the old woman mortally, I be afraid. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 10 Aug. 8/1 He doesn't ‘hetchel’ either of them into misery. 1906 C. H. Parkhurst Lower than Angels 18 Mercilessly hetchelled by some prosecuting attorney. |
Hence ˈhatchelled ppl. a., ˈhatchelling vbl. n.; also ˈhatcheller, a flax-dresser, heckler.
| 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 595/13 Mataxator, mataxatrix, an hycheler. 1573 Lanc. Wills III. 62, xx knokes of hatchelled lyne. 1601 Holland Pliny xix. i, The short shuds or shives that are..parted in the hetchelling. 1611 Cotgr., Serancier, a flax-man, a hatcheller, or comber of flax. 1656 W. D. tr. Comenius' Gate Lat. Unl. ¶385 That which is separated in hatchelling is hurds and tow. 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 56 Over which is the hatchelling⁓loft. 1798 F. Leighton Let. to J. Boucher 17 Mar. (MS.), I have lately met with a Shropshire word new to me, viz. Hatcheler, it means a dresser of flax or hemp. |