in fine fettle

English
WOTD – 30 June 2023

Etymology

From in + fine (“of superior quality”) + fettle (“state of physical condition”).[1] Fettle is derived from Late Middle English fetlen (“(verb) to bestow; to fix, prepare, put in place; to prepare (oneself) for battle, gird up; to shape; to be about to, or to ready (oneself), to stay; (adjective) shaped (well or poorly)”) [and other forms],[2] possibly from Old English fetel (“belt, girdle, fettle”),[3] from Proto-Germanic *fatilaz; further etymology unknown.

Pronunciation

Prepositional phrase

in fine fettle

  1. In good condition; energetic, fit.
    Synonym: fit as a fiddle
    • 1979, Douglas Hofstadter, “Crab Canon”, in Gödel, Escher, Bach‎, →ISBN, page 199:
      Tortoise: [Y]ou're looking in very fine fettle these days, I must say.
      Achilles: Thank you very much.

Usage notes

Also used with other words in place of fine, such as in good fettle and in high fettle.

Translations

References
  1. Compare “(to be) in (good, high, etc.) fettle” under “fettle, n.2”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2023; “fettle, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. “fetlen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  3. “fettle, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2023; “fettle, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.