English
machete
Machete comes from Spanish macho ‘sledgehammer’, and goes back to Latin mattea ‘a dainty dish, a delicacy’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmattea‘a dainty dish, a delicacy’
- Spanishc. 1500–presentmacho‘sledgehammer’
- Spanish, derivedc. 1500–presentmachetediminutive of macho
- Englishearliest quotation 1992machete
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmattea‘a dainty dish, a delicacy’
- Spanishc. 1500–presentmacho‘sledgehammer’
- Spanish, derivedc. 1500–presentmachetediminutive of macho
- Englishearliest quotation 1992machete
Earliest quotation: 1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash: “It breaks loose one rope at a time, haphazardly,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *meh₂ḱ- ‘to raise, increase’
macro, meager, meagre, 14 more
through Spanish macho ‘sledgehammer’
Today it means
noun A sword-like tool used for cutting large plants with a chopping motion, or used as a weapon.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin mattea / machete