fettle

== English == === Etymology === From Late Middle English fetlen (“(verb) to bestow; to fix, prepare, put in place; to prepare (oneself) for battle, gird up; to shape; to be about to, or to ready (oneself) to stay; (adjective) shaped (well or poorly)”) [and other forms], which possibly: from Old English fetel (“belt, girdle, fettle”), from Proto-Germanic *fatilaz, further etymology unknown; or from Old English fetian (“to fetch”), from Proto-Germanic *fatōną, *fatjaną (“to fetch”), from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“foot”). Compare Old English ġefetelsod (“provided with a belt; trimmed, polished, ornamented”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈfɛtl̩/ Rhymes: -ɛtəl Hyphenation: fet‧tle === Noun === fettle (plural fettles) A state of physical condition; kilter or trim. One's mental state; spirits. Sand used to line a furnace. (ceramics) A seam line left by the meeting of mould pieces. (UK, dialectal) The act of fettling. (Cumbria, Geordie) A person's mood or state, often assuming the worst. ==== Usage notes ==== Outside of dialects, this noun is a fossil, found only in the phrase in fine fettle; but the verb and the corresponding gerund remain in common use in British English (for example, "this will need a bit of fettling to get sorted"). ==== Derived terms ==== in fine fettle ==== Translations ==== === Verb === fettle (third-person singular simple present fettles, present participle fettling, simple past and past participle fettled) (especially Northern England) To sort out, to fix, to mend, to repair. Coordinate terms: fiddle, fiddle with (intransitive) To make preparations; to put things in order; to do trifling business. (transitive) To line the hearth of a furnace with sand prior to pouring molten metal. (reflexive, Geordie) To be upset or in a bad mood. (ceramics) To remove (as by sanding) the seam lines left by the meeting of two molds. (transitive, engineering) To machine away seam lines or more generally to make small adjustments to a component or machine to improve its fit or operation. (transitive, archaic) To prepare. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== fash === References === === Further reading === Northumberland Words, English Dialect Society, R. Oliver Heslop, 1893–4 “fettle”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. Scott Dobson, Dick Irwin, “fettle”, in Newcastle 1970s: Durham & Tyneside Dialect Group‎[2], archived from the original on 5 September 2024. Todd's Geordie Words and Phrases, George Todd, Newcastle, 1977[3] Frank Graham, editor (1987), “FETTLE”, in The New Geordie Dictionary, Rothbury, Northumberland: Butler Publishing, →ISBN. “Fettle”, in Palgrave’s Word List: Durham & Tyneside Dialect Group‎[4], archived from the original on 5 September 2024, from F[rancis] M[ilnes] T[emple] Palgrave, A List of Words and Phrases in Everyday Use by the Natives of Hetton-le-Hole in the County of Durham […] (Publications of the English Dialect Society; 74), London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press, 1896, →OCLC.