Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗The rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg. · The part of a shoe's sole which supports the foot's heel. · The rear part of a sock or similar covering for the foot. · The part of the palm of a hand closest to the wrist.
To follow at somebody's heels; to chase closely. · To cause to follow at somebody’s heels (transitive). · To add a heel to, or increase the size of the heel of (a shoe or boot). · To kick with the heel.
From Middle English hele, from Old English hēla, from Proto-West Germanic *hą̄hilō, from Proto-Germanic *hanhilaz, diminutive of Proto-Germanic *hanhaz (“heel, hock”), equivalent to hock + -le. More at hock. Compare North Frisian haiel, West Frisian hyl, Dutch hiel, German Low German Hiel, Danish and Norwegian hæl, Swedish häl.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
This page abbreviates 24 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "etymon",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:hele<id:heel>",
"id": "foot",
"tree": "1"
},
"expansion": "[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"heel\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"foot\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"heel\" id=\"English:_foot\">"
},
{
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"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "hele",
"id": "heel"
},
"expansion": "Middle English hele"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "hēla"
},
"expansion": "Old English hēla"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*hą̄hilō"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *hą̄hilō"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*hanhilaz"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *hanhilaz"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*hanhaz",
"4": "",
"5": "heel, hock"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *hanhaz (“heel, hock”)"
},
{
"name": "suf",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "hock",
"3": "le",
"nocat": "1"
},
"expansion": "hock + -le"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "frr",
"2": "haiel"
},
"expansion": "North Frisian haiel"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fy",
"2": "hyl"
},
"expansion": "West Frisian hyl"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "hiel"
},
"expansion": "Dutch hiel"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nds-de",
"2": "Hiel"
},
"expansion": "German Low German Hiel"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "da",
"2": "-"
},
"expansion": "Danish"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "no",
"2": "hæl"
},
"expansion": "Norwegian hæl"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "häl"
},
"expansion": "Swedish häl"
},
{
"name": "etymon",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:hele<id:heel>",
"id": "foot",
"tree": "1"
},
"expansion": ""
}
],
"links": [
[
"hele",
"hele#Middle_English:_heel"
],
[
"hēla",
"hela#Old_English"
],
[
"*hą̄hilō",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/hą̄hilō"
],
[
"*hanhilaz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/hanhilaz"
],
[
"*hanhaz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/hanhaz"
],
[
"hock",
"hock#English"
],
[
"-le",
"-le#English"
],
[
"hock",
"hock#English"
],
[
"haiel",
"haiel#North_Frisian"
],
[
"hyl",
"hyl#West_Frisian"
],
[
"hiel",
"hiel#Dutch"
],
[
"Hiel",
"Hiel#Low_German"
],
[
"hæl",
"hæl#Norwegian"
],
[
"häl",
"häl#Swedish"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"The rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg.",
"The part of a shoe's sole which supports the foot's heel.",
"The rear part of a sock or similar covering for the foot.",
"The part of the palm of a hand closest to the wrist."
],
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{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To follow at somebody's heels; to chase closely.",
"To cause to follow at somebody’s heels (transitive).",
"To add a heel to, or increase the size of the heel of (a shoe or boot).",
"To kick with the heel."
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