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coul·ter or col·ter

(kōltər)

A blade or wheel attached to the beam of a plow that makes vertical cuts in the soil in advance of the plowshare.

[Middle English culter, from Old English culter and Old French coltre, both from Latin culter, knife, plowshare; see skel-¹ in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

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coulter

round coulter blade (left) in front of a moldboard

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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