nutshell

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nutshell

/ˈnʌt.ʃɛl/

Where it comes from

From Middle English notschelle, from Old English hnutsċiell, from Proto-West Germanic *hnutskallju, equivalent to nut + shell. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Nuteskele, Nuteskil (“nutshell”), Dutch notenschaal (“nutshell”), German Nussschale (“nutshell”).

The verb, as well as the legal book sense, is in reference to the phrase in a nutshell (“summarized”).

noun nutshells

The shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut. For men be now tratlers and tellers of tales; What tidings at Totnam, what newis in Wales, What ſhippis are ſailing to Scalis Malis? And all is not worth a couple of nut ſhalis.
A short book summarizing an area of law.
A small boat; a boat considered small in comparison to the seas. [A]t last the fishing-line stood straight out behind, and the stone weights jumped along the tops of the billows, while the seas - notwithstanding the guiding hand of the pilot sought to avoid them - broke over our little nutshell, and sent the spray high above mast and sail.

verb nutshells · nutshelling · nutshelled

transitive To summarize.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: floor, box, fat, synthesis, amount, substance, mot, memorandum, brief, briefly, phrase, essence, succinct, summary, abstract, synopsis

Translations

Every language

noun the shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut

Español	cáscara de nuez
日本語	木の実の殻 kinomi no kara
中文	堅果殼 /坚果壳 jiānguǒ qiào, jiānguǒ ké
Português	casca de noz
Français	coque, coquille
Deutsch	Nussschale
Italiano	guscio di noce
Русский	оре́ховая скорлупа́ oréxovaja skorlupá

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MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX

@misc{nutshell_2026,
  title = {nutshell},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/nutshell},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}