Cudgel
/ˈkʌdʒ.əl/noun
A short, thick club used as a weapon.
Did you know?Cudgel is the source of the verb meaning “to beat with a club,” and its history is tied to the everyday reality that ordinary objects often became weapons long before they became metaphors.
Etymological Timeline
Early Modern English
English
cudgel
“a short, heavy club”
Middle English
English
cuggel
“a club or thick stick”
Old Norse
ON
kogull
“a cudgel or club”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*kuglaz
“a stick, club, or cudgel”
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*geu-
“to bend, curve, or arch”