History, Wonder Tales, Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends The Flemish | Page 210
Another Dutch invention was the mangling of clothing in laundering and bleaching.
Mangle (1774), a machine for rolling and pressing linen and cotton clothing; ad. Du.
mangel, apparently short for the synonymous mangel-stok, from the stem of
mangelen, to mangle, from M.Du. mange, a mangle, in early use also a mangonel.
The vb. Mangle (1775) is from the sb. or perhaps immediately ad. Du. mangelen.
Two words are the names of parts of machines.
Trigger (1621), a movable catch or lever which releases a detent or spring and sets
some force or mechanism in motion; in the 17th and 18th centuries also tricker, ad.
Du. trekker, a trigger, from trekken, to pull; the form trigger occurs in 1660, but tricker
remained the usual form down to c. 1750, and is still in dial. use from Scotland to the
Midlands.
Cam (1777), a projecting part of a wheel adapted to impart a variable or alternating
motion to another piece pressed against it; probably ad. Du. kam (M.Du. cam), the
same word as Eng. comb., but also applied to ‘a toothed rim or part of a wheel, teeth
of a wheel’, as in Du. kamrad, toothed wheel, cog-wheel; the Du. word was borrowed
into F. as came, cog, tooth, catch of a wheel, and the Eng. word may be partly from
French.
There are a few words which are undoubtedly technical terms, but are difficult to
assign to any particular craft or trade.
Furison (1536, from Sc.), the steel used for striking fire from flint; ad. M.Du. vuurijzen
(in Kilian, vierijzen), from vuur, fire, and ijzen, ijzer, iron.
Drill (1611), an instrument for drilling or boring; in this sense probably immediately
from Du. dril, drille, in the same sense (in Kilian, 1599) from the vb. drillen; in the
military sense the word is probably from the vb. in English. The verb is later, Drill
(1649), to pierce or bore a hole; ad. Du. drillen, to drill, bore; (1681), to turn round and
round; the Du. word had also this meaning, M.Du. drillen, to bore, turn in a circle,
brandish (MLG. drillen, to roll, turn).
Shot-prop (1875), a shot-plug; perhaps after Du. geschut-prop.
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