Whittle
/ˈwɪtəl/noun
To carve or cut away small pieces from wood or another material.
Did you know?The noun and verb both trace back to the same old Germanic root for a knife, so the word’s history is literally built around cutting and carving.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*kney-
“to cut or stab”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*knībaz
“knife”
Old English
OE
hwitil
“knife, whittle (a cutting tool)”
Middle English
ME
whittelen
“to cut with a knife, pare down”
Modern English
English
whittle
“to carve away or shape by cutting small pieces”