Chisel
late Middle English: from Old Northern French, based on Latin cis- (as in late Latin cisorium ), variant of caes-, stem of caedere ‘to cut’. Compare with scissors.
wiktionary
From Middle English chisel, chesel, borrowed from Old Northern French chisel, from Vulgar Latin *cisellum, from *caesellum, from Latin caesus, past participle of caedere(“to cut”).
From Middle English chisel, chesil, from Old English ċeosol, ċeosel, ċysel, ċisel, ċisil(“gravel, sand”), from Proto-West Germanic *kisil(“small stone, pebble”). See also chessom.
etymonline
chisel (n.)
"tool with a beveled or sloping cutting edge at one end, used for paring, splitting, gouging, or cutting out," early 14c., from Anglo-French cisel, Old French cisel "chisel," in plural, "scissors, shears" (12c., Modern French ciseau), from Vulgar Latin *cisellum "cutting tool," from Latin caesellum, diminutive of caesus, past participle of caedere "to cut" (from PIE root *kae-id- "to strike"). Related: Chiseled; chiseling.
chisel (v.)
c. 1500, "to break, cut, gouge, etc. with a chisel," from chisel (n.). Slang sense of "to cheat, defraud" is first recorded in 1808 as chizzel; origin and connection to the older word are obscure (but compare slang sense of gouge; perhaps the sense is "to cut close" as in a bargain). Related: Chiseled; chiseling.
