cudgel

Etymology

Comes from Middle English kuggel, from Old English cyċġel ("a large stick, cudgel"), from Proto-West Germanic *kuggil, from Proto-Germanic *kuggilaz ("a knobbed instrument"), itself from Proto-Germanic *kuggǭ ("cog, swelling"), from Proto-Indo-European *gewgʰ- ("swelling, bow"), from Proto-Indo-European *gew- ("to bow, bend, arch, curve"); the English word is made up of cog and -el (a diminutive suffix). It is cognate with Middle Dutch coghele ("a stick with a rounded end").