# hatchet

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈhæt͡ʃɪt/ · frequency rank #26,108

## Definitions
1. A small, light axe with a short handle; a tomahawk.
2. Belligerence, animosity; harsh criticism.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **hitched** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hatchet-vs-hitched)
- **hatch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hatch-vs-hatchet)
- **hatcher** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hatcher-vs-hatchet)
- **hatchery** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hatchery-vs-hatchet)

## Common misspellings (11)
`ahtchet`, `hacthet`, `hatcchet`, `hatceht`, `hatchett`, `hatchhet`, `hatchte`, `hathcet`, `hattchet`, `hhatchet`, `htachet`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hatchet