Colter
/ˈkoʊl.tər/noun
A sharp vertical blade mounted ahead of a plowshare to cut through soil, roots, or plant matter.
Did you know?The colter’s name is related to the Latin word for a knife, reflecting how early plow technology was imagined as cutting the earth open.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*skel-
“To cut or split; a proposed ancestral root associated with cutting tools and objects divided into pieces.”
Classical Latin
Latin
culter
“Knife; specifically, a plowshare or cutting blade.”
Old English
Old English
culter
“A plowshare or cutting implement, borrowed from Latin.”
Middle English
Middle English
colter
“The sharp blade fixed before a plowshare.”
Modern English
English
colter
“A vertical plow blade that cuts soil ahead of the main share.”