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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

ettle.

To propose, intend.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ˈɛtl/
  1. To propose, intend.

    Ireland · Northern-England · Scotland · transitive
  2. To direct one's course, to head.

    Ireland · Northern-England · Scotland · archaic · intransitive
  3. To direct (something) to or at someone or something; to aim at.

    Ireland · Northern-England · Scotland · intransitive
  4. To strive, to try.

    Ireland · Northern-England · Scotland · intransitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English etlien, atlien, from Old Norse ætla (“to think, mean, suppose, intend, purpose”), from Proto-Germanic *ahtalōną (“to strive, think”), from Proto-Indo-European *ok- (“to think, intend, purpose”). Cognate with regional Swedish ättla (“to count, reckon”). Some Middle English forms perhaps remodelled after Old English eaht.

noun/ˈɛtl/
  1. Intention; intent; aim.

    Scotland · dialectal
Where this word comes from

From Middle English etlien, atlien, from Old Norse ætla (“to think, mean, suppose, intend, purpose”), from Proto-Germanic *ahtalōną (“to strive, think”), from Proto-Indo-European *ok- (“to think, intend, purpose”). Cognate with regional Swedish ättla (“to count, reckon”). Some Middle English forms perhaps remodelled after Old English eaht.

verb/ˈɛtl/
  1. To earn.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

A variation of addle (“to earn”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.