hatchet
/ˈhæt͡ʃɪt/noun, verb
hatchet is spelled H-A-T-C-H-E-T: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,092nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hatchet means “A small, light axe with a short handle; a tomahawk” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hatchet is hatchets.
How many letters and syllables are in hatchet?
| Letters | 7: H-A-T-C-H-E-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.2 times per million words; the 26,092nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is hatchet?
Hatchet appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,092nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce hatchet?
- /ˈhæt͡ʃɪt/
Hatchet has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-hatchet.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hatchet
- hatchets plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- hatcheting participle, present
- hatchetting participle, present, rare
- hatcheted participle, past
- hatchetted participle, past, rare
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hatchet mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A small, light axe with a short handle; a tomahawk.
- 2
Belligerence, animosity; harsh criticism.
to bury the hatchet
verb
- 1
To cut with a hatchet.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hatchet in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense small axe:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | hachette |
| German | Beil |
| Portuguese | machadinha |
| Spanish | hacha, destral, macheta, segureja |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does hatchet come from?
From Middle English hachet, a borrowing from Old French hachete, diminutive of hache (“axe”), from Vulgar Latin *happia, from Frankish *happjā, from Proto-Germanic *hapjǭ, *habjǭ (“knife”), from Proto-Indo-European *kop- (“to strike, to beat”). Cognate with Old High German happa, heppa, habba (“reaper, sickle”), German Hippe (“billhook”), Dutch heep, hiep (“billhook”), and Ancient Greek κοπίς (kopís). Mostly displaced native Old English handæx, whence Modern English hand axe.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).