Etymograph

English

pawl

Pawl may come from Dutch pal ‘catch (mechanism)’, from French pal ‘stake’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- ‘to attach, fix’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ǵ-1‘to attach, fix’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ǵ-slos1uncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pākslos1uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpālus2‘stake, pole’uncertain
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400pal2uncertain
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentpal3‘stake’uncertain
  7. Dutchc. 1500–presentpal3‘catch (mechanism)’uncertain
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1910pawl3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin palus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French pal
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English pawl
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1910, Victor Appleton: “A pawl is a sort of catch that fits…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ǵ-Wiktionary, Latin palus‘to attach, fix’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ǵ-slosWiktionary, Latin palusuncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pākslosWiktionary, Latin palusuncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpālusWiktionary, French pal‘stake, pole’uncertain
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400palWiktionary, French paluncertain
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentpalWiktionary, English pawl‘stake’uncertain
  7. Dutchc. 1500–presentpalWiktionary, English pawl‘catch (mechanism)’uncertain
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1910pawlWiktionary, English pawl. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1910, Victor Appleton: “A pawl is a sort of catch that fits…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- ‘to attach, fix’

page, propaganda, compact, peasant, pagan, propagate, pectin, impinge, pala, pagination, impactor, 28 more

through Latin pālus ‘stake, pole’

travel, pole, peel, travail, palisade, impale, 20 more

through Old French pal

pale

Today it means

noun A pivoted catch designed to fall into a notch on a ratchet wheel so as to allow movement in only one direction (e.g. on a windlass or in a clock mechanism), or alternatively to move the wheel in one direction.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pawl”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin palus, French pal. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- / pawl

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