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Origin and history of buckle

buckle(n.)

"spiked metal ring for holding a belt, etc.," c. 1300, bukel, from Old French bocle "boss (of a shield)," then "shield," then by further extension "buckle, metal ring," (12c., Modern French boucle), from Latin buccula "cheek strap of a helmet," in Late Latin "boss of a shield," diminutive of bucca "cheek" (see bouche).

Boucle in the middle ages had the double sense of a "shield's boss" and "a ring"; the last sense has alone survived, and it metaph. developed in the boucle de cheveux, ringlets. [Kitchin]

also from c. 1300

buckle(v.1)

"to fasten with a buckle," late 14c., bokelen, from buckle (n.). The meaning "prepare for action of any kind" (1560s) probably is a metaphor from buckling on armor before battle. Related: Buckled; buckling.

also from late 14c.

buckle(v.2)

"distort, warp, bend out of shape" 1520s, bokelen "to arch the body," from French boucler "to bulge," from Old French bocler "to bulge," from bocle "boss of a shield" (see buckle (n.)). The meaning "to bend under strong pressure" is from 1590s (figurative from 1640s) . Related: Buckled; buckling.

also from 1520s

Entries linking to buckle

bouche(n.)

French, literally "mouth" (Old French boche, 11c.), from Latin bucca "cheek," which in Late Latin replaced os (see oral) as the word for "mouth" (and also is the source of Italian bocca, Spanish boca). De Vaan writes that "The meaning 'mouth' is secondary, and was originally used in a derogatory way." It is perhaps from Celtic, Germanic, or a non-IE substrate language.

The French word was borrowed in English in various senses, such as "king's allowance of food for his retinue" (mid-15c.); "mouth" (1580s); "metal plug for a cannon's vent" (1862; the verb in this sense is from 1781).

buckler(n.)

"small, round shield used to ward off blows," c. 1300, from Old French bocler "boss (of a shield), shield, buckler" (12c., Modern French bouclier), from Medieval Latin *buccularius (adj.) "having a boss," from Latin buccula (see buckle (n.)).