[C38] heel

[Don Strong]

from the OED

heel (n.1) <http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=heel> Look up heel 
at Dictionary.com <http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=heel>
    O.E. hela, from P.Gmc. *khangkh- (cf. O.N. hæll, O.Fris. hel, Du.
    hiel), related to O.E. hoh "hock." Heeled "provided with money" is
    1880 in Amer.Eng., from earlier sense "furnished with a gun, armed"
    (1866), from still earlier sense "furnish (a gamecock) with a
    heel-like spur" (1560s). To heel (of a dog) is from 1810. Heeler
    "unscrupulous political lackey" is U.S. slang, 1877, from the notion
    of one who follows at the heels of a political boss, no doubt coined
    with the image of a dog in mind. Achilles' heel "only vulnerable
    spot" is from 1810. Heel-tap was originally (1688) one of the bits
    of leather that are stacked up to make a shoe heel; meaning "bit of
    liquor left in a glass or bottle" first recorded 1680s; the exact
    connection is uncertain. Down at heels (1732) refers to heels of
    boots or shoes worn down and the owner too poor to replace them.
heel (v.) <http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=heel> Look up heel 
at Dictionary.com <http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=heel>
    of a ship, O.E. hyldan "incline," from P.Gmc. *khelthijanan (cf.
    M.Du. helden "to lean," O.N. hallr "inclined," Ger. halde "slope,
    declivity"). Re-spelled 16c. from M.E. hield, probably by
    misinterpretation of -d as a pt. suffix.
heel (n.2) <http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=heel> Look up heel 
at Dictionary.com <http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=heel>
    "contemptible person," 1914 in U.S. underworld slang, originally
    "incompetent or worthless criminal," probably from a sense of
    "person in the lowest position."


-- 
Donald R. Strong
Professor
Dept. of Evolution and Ecology
University of California, Davis 95616

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