Join free

cavel

English

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

cavel¹

Where it comes from

From Middle English *kavel, kevel, from Old English cæfl (“gag, bit, muzzle”), possibly from or akin to Old Norse kafli, kefli (“a piece of wood, gag”).

noun cavels · cavil · kavil · kevel · kevil

  1. obsolete A gag.
  2. dialectal A horse's bit.

cavel²

Where it comes from

See kevel.

noun cavels

  1. alternative Alternative form of kevel (“stonemason's hammer”).

cavel³

Where it comes from

From Middle English cavel, kavell, kevell, from Old Norse kafl, kafli (“long, round piece of wood, staff”), from Proto-Germanic *kablô, *kablaz. Compare also Middle Dutch kāvelen (“to draw lots, a lot”), kavele (“fate, lottery”), modern Dutch kavel (“lot, plot of land”), dialectal German Kabel.

noun cavels

  1. dialectal, obsolete The stick or runestaff used in casting lots; a lot.
  2. dialectal, obsolete A part, share, lot.
  3. dialectal, obsolete A parcel or allotment of land.

Cavel⁴

  • /kˈe͡ɪvə͡l/ UK

proper noun Cavels

  1. A surname.

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"cavel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/cavel. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

cavel. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/cavel

Chicago

"cavel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/cavel.

BibTeX
@misc{cavel_2026,
  title = {cavel},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/cavel},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}