Coulter
/ˈkoʊltər/noun
The vertical knife or blade of a plow that cuts the soil ahead of the plowshare.
Did you know?Coulter comes from a long Germanic word for a cutting blade, and its deep root is the same one behind English words like *knife* and *nick* — all traces of the ancient idea of cutting as a decisive, forceful act.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*skei-
“to cut, split, or separate”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*kultraz
“a cutting blade or knife-like tool”
Old English
OE
culter
“a plow blade or cutting blade”
Middle English
ME
coulter
“the knife of a plow that cuts the sod”
Modern English
English
coulter
“the vertical cutting blade of a plow”