HAMMER

hammer, an implement consisting of a shaft or handle with head fixed transversely to it. the head, usually of metal, has one flat face, the other may be shaped to serve various purposes, e.g. with a claw, a pick, &c. the implement is used for breaking, beating, driving nails, rivets, &c., and the word is applied to heavy masses of metal moved by machinery, and used for similar purposes. (see tool.) "hammer" is a word common to teutonic languages. it appears in the same form in german and danish, and in dutch as _hamer_, in swedish as _hammare_. the ultimate origin is unknown. it has been connected with the root seen in the greek [greek: kamptein], to bend; the word would mean, therefore, something crooked or bent. a more illuminating suggestion connects the word with the slavonic _kamy_, a stone, cf. russian _kamen_, and ultimately with sanskrit _acman_, a pointed stone, a thunderbolt. the legend of thor's hammer, the thunderbolt, and the probability of the primitive hammer being a stone, adds plausibility to this derivation. the word is applied to many objects resembling a hammer in shape or function. thus the "striker" in a clock, or in a bell, when it is sounded by an independent lever and not by the swinging of the "tongue," is called a "hammer"; similarly, in the "action" of a pianoforte the word is used of a wooden shank with felt-covered head attached to a key, the striking of which throws the "hammer" against the strings. in the mechanism of a fire-arm, the "hammer" is that part which by its impact on the cap or primer explodes the charge. (see gun.) the hammer, more usually known by its french name of _martel de fer_, was a medieval hand-weapon. with a long shaft it was used by infantry, especially when acting against mounted troops. with a short handle and usually made altogether of metal, it was also used by horse-soldiers. the _martel_ had one part of the head with a blunted face, the other pointed, but occasionally both sides were pointed. there are 16th century examples in which a hand-gun forms the handle. the name of "hammer," in latin _malleus_, has been frequently applied to men, and also to books, with reference to destructive power. thus on the tomb of edward i. in westminster abbey is inscribed his name of _scotorum malleus_, the "hammer of the scots." the title of "hammer of heretics," _malleus haereticorum_, has been given to st augustine and to johann faber, whose tract against luther is also known by the name. thomas cromwell was styled _malleus monachorum_. the famous text-book of procedure in cases of witchcraft, published by sprenger and kramer in 1489, was called _hexenhammer_ or _malleus maleficarum_ (see witchcraft). the origin of the word "hammer-cloth," an ornamental cloth covering the box-seat on a state-coach, has been often explained from the hammer and other tools carried in the box-seat by the coachman for repairs, &c. the _new english dictionary_ points out that while the word occurs as early as 1465, the use of a box-seat is not known before the 17th century. other suggestions are that it is a corruption of "hamper-cloth," or of "hammock-cloth," which is used in this sense, probably owing to a mistake. neither of these supposed corruptions helps very much. skeat connects the word with a dutch word _hemel_, meaning a canopy. in the name of the bird, the yellow-hammer, the latter part should be "ammer." this appears in the german name, _emmerling_, and the word probably means the "chirper," cf. the ger. _jammern_, to wail, lament.