mallet

See also: Mallet

English

A rubber mallet

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French mallet, maillet (“a wooden hammer, mallet”), diminutive of mal, mail (“a hammer”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin malleus (“a hammer, mall, mallet”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmælɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ælɪt

Noun

mallet (plural mallets)

1. A type of hammer with a larger-than-usual head made of wood, rubber or similar non-iron material, used by woodworkers for driving a tool, such as a chisel. A kind of maul.

   Carpenters use mallets for assembling.

   We used a mallet to drive the tent pegs into the ground.

2. A weapon resembling the tool, but typically much larger.
   • 1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 51:

     The Mallet of arms, according to the representation of it given by Father Daniel, exactly resembles the wooden instrument of that name, now in use, except in the length of the handle, it was like the hammer of arms, to be used with both hands, indeed it differed very little from that weapon in its form.

3. A small hammer-like tool used for playing certain musical instruments.
4. A light beetle with a long handle used in playing croquet.
5. The stick used to strike the ball in the sport of polo.

Derived terms

• malleter
• Mallet (cryptography)

Translations

small maul

• Armenian: թակ (hy) (tʻak)
• Aromanian: maljiu n, malj n, malju n
• Bashkir: сүкеш (sükeş), балға (balğa)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 槌 (zh) (chuí), 木槌 (zh) (mùchuí)

• Czech: palice (cs) f
• Finnish: nuija (fi)
• French: maillet (fr) m
• Galician: maza f, mazo m
• German: (of wood) Holzhammer m, Klopfholz n; (of rubber) Gummihammer (de) m
• Greek: ματσόλα (el) f (matsóla)
• Italian: maglio (it) m, mazzetta f
• Japanese: 木槌 (きづち, kidzuchi)
• Latin: malleus (la) m
• Luxembourgish: Schlo f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Malay: gandin, tukul kayu
• Maltese: mazzola f
• Maori: kuru
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: klubbe m or f

  Nynorsk: klubbe f

• Persian: کدین (fa) (kodin)
• Polish: knypel (pl) m, drewniany młotek m, podbijak m, obijak m
• Portuguese: malho (pt) m
• Romanian: mai (ro) n
• Russian: кия́нка (ru) f (kijánka), колоту́шка (ru) f (kolotúška), деревя́нный молото́к m (derevjánnyj molotók)
• Spanish: mazo (es) m
• Swedish: klubba (sv) c, hammare (sv) c
• Tagalog: balatak

weapon resembling the tool

• Finnish: nuija (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Swedish: stridsklubba c

musical drumstick

• French: mailloche (fr) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

instrument for playing croquet

• Finnish: maila (fi)
• Hungarian: ütő (hu)
• Italian: mazza da croquet f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian: kølle f
• Russian: молото́к (ru) m (molotók) (в кроке́те)
• Swedish: klubba (sv) c

Verb

mallet (third-person singular simple present mallets, present participle malleting, simple past and past participle malleted)

1. To strike with a mallet.

Related terms

• malleable
• malleate

Further reading

• “mallet”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “mallet”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “mallet”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

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Latin

Verb

(deprecated template usage) māllet

1. third-person singular imperfect active subjunctive of mālō