Hilt

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Old English hilt, hilte, of Germanic origin.

wiktionary

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From Middle English hilt, hilte, from Old English hilt, hilte, from Proto-Germanic *heltą, *heltǭ, *heltō, *hiltijō, (compare Old Norse hjalt, Old High German helza, Old Saxon helta), from Proto-Indo-European *kel-(“to strike, cut”) (see holt).

etymonline

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hilt (n.)

Old English hilt "hilt, handle of a sword or dagger," from Proto-Germanic *helt (source also of Old Norse hjalt, Old High German helza "hilt," Old Saxon helta "oar handle"), of uncertain origin, possibly from PIE root *kel- "to strike, cut" (see holt). Formerly also used in plural in same sense as singular. Up to the hilts "completely" is from 1670s.