English
rivet
Rivet comes from Old French river ‘to fetter a person’, and goes back to rive ‘rim, edge’.
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400rive‘rim, edge’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400river‘to fetter a person’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400rivet
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1548same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400rive‘rim, edge’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400river‘to fetter a person’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400rivet
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1548same form
Earliest quotation: a. 1548, Edward Hall, (please specify the part of the work): “over his rivet he had a garment of white…”
The story
The sense "kind of footman's armour" is apparently a back-formation from almain rivet, which is apparently derived from the English noun; see that entry for more.
Every English word from Old French rive
Today it means
noun A cylindrical mechanical fastener which is supplied with a factory head at one end and is used to attach multiple parts together by passing its bucktail through a hole and upsetting its end to form a field head.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old French rive / rivet