noun
- the handle of an ax, hatchet, hammer, or the like.
verb (used with object), helved, helv·ing.
- to furnish with a helve.
noun
- the handle of a hand tool such as an axe or pick
verb
- (tr) to fit a helve to (a tool)
Old English helfe, hielfe “handle of an axe” or other tool or weapon, from Proto-Germanic *halb- (cf. Old Saxon helvi, Middle Dutch helf, Old High German halb “handle of an axe,” Old High German helmo “tiller”); related to halter and helm (1), from PIE *kelp- “to hold, grasp.” In Middle English, to holden the axe bi the helve (c.1200) meant “to take something by the right end.”