manacle
/ˈmænəkəl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.42 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A shackle for the wrist, usually consisting of a pair of joined rings; a handcuff; (by extension) a similar device put around an ankle to restrict free movement.
noun
A fetter, a restriction.
Example Sentences
- "And gainſt the General we will lift our ſwords And either lanch his greedie thirſting throat, Or take him priſoner, and his chaine ſhall ſerue For Manackles, till he be ranſom’d home."
- "If 'gainſt your ſelfe you be incens'd, wee'le put you / (Like one that meanes his proper harme) in Manacles, / Then reaſon ſafely with you: [...]"
- "For my ſake weare this [a bracelet], / It is a Manacle of Loue, Ile place it / Vpon this fayreſt Priſoner."
- ""If you will go quietly with us we will employ no force," said the man in uniform; "otherwise we must use these;" and Haldane shuddered as light steel manacles were produced."
- "Examining the manacles I saw that they fastened with a massive spring lock."
- "[T]he ships departed with equipment to keep the captives in check. Indeed it is that equipment – notably the chains and manacles – which to this day symbolizes the slave ships themselves. The repressive machinery of the slave ship – cannons, swivel guns, hand guns, cutlasses, chains, manacles, thumbscrews – speaks not only of the fear of the ship's owners and crew but points us directly to the essential reality of the slave ships."
Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English manacle, manakelle, manakil, manakyll, manicle, manikil, manycle, manykil, manykle, from Anglo-Norman manicle, manichle (“gauntlet; handle of a plough; (in plural) manacles”), and Middle French manicle, Old French manicle (“armlet; gauntlet; (in plural) manacles”) (modern French manicle, manique (“gauntlet”)), from Latin manicula (“handle of a plough; manacle”), from manus (“hand”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂- (“to beckon, signal”)) + -cula (from -culus, variant of -ulus (suffix forming diminutive nouns)). Doublet of manicle and manicule. The verb is probably derived from the noun, although according to the Oxford English Dictionary it is attested slightly earlier.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈmænəkəl/
- British English: /ˈmænək(ə)l/