TWEEZERS  , a small See also:

• INSTRUMENT (Lat. instrumentum, from insincere, to build up, furnish, arrange, prepare)

instrument like a pair of See also:

• TONGS (O. Eng. Lange, M. Eng. tonge, cf. Du. tang, Ger. Zange, from base tang, to bite, cf. Gr. SaKVeiv)

tongs, used for picking up See also:

• MINUTE
• MINUTE (Lat. minutes, small; minuere, to make less)

minute See also:

• OBJECTS

objects, extracting thorns or splinters from the flesh, &c . Etymologically a " tweezer " is an instrument contained in a " tweeze " or a small See also:

• CASE
• CASE, JOHN (d. 1600)

case containing several See also:

• INSTRUMENTS

instruments, " tweeze " being a plural See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form of " twee," an See also:

• ADAPTATION (from Lat. adaptare. to fit to)

adaptation of See also:

• FRENCH
• FRENCH, DANIEL CHESTER (1850– )
• FRENCH, NICHOLAS (1604-1678)

French etui, a sheath-case or See also:

• BOX
• BOX (Gr. irl or, Lat. buxus, box-wood; cf. 2r6Eir, a pyx)

box to put things in . Why one particular instrument out of the case should be called " tweezers " is not certain; See also:

• SKEAT, WALTER WILLIAM (1835– )

Skeat suggests a possible connexion of ideas with the obsolete " twich," " twitch " (Ger. zwicken, to nip, fasten, Eng . " tweak "), or reference may be made to the M . Eng. twisel or twissel, a pair of objects (twi-, two) . The derivation of the French etui (O . Fr. estuy) is doubtful . Cognate forms are Span. estuche, See also:

• PORT

Port. estojo, Ital. astuccio, formerly stuccio or stucchio, all with the same meaning of a small case for instruments such as See also:

• SCISSORS

scissors, See also:

• KNIFE (0. E. cuff, a word appearing in different forms in many Teutonic languages, cf. Du. knijf, Ger. Kneif, a shoe-maker's knife, Swed. knif; the ultimate origin is unknown; Skeat finds the origin in the root of " nip," formerly " knip "; Fr. canif is a

knife, &c . Skeat supports See also:

• DIE
• DIE (Fr. de, from Lat. datum, given)

Die- in his connexion with the See also:

• MODERN

modern See also:

• GERMAN
• GERMAN, DUTCH AND SCANDINAVIAN

German See also:

• DIALECT (from Gr. Sia stcror, conversation, manner of speaking, &aXeyec6at, to converse)

dialect Stauche, See also:

• CUFF

cuff, that See also:

• PART

part of the See also:

• SLEEVE (O. Eng. slieve, slyf, a word allied to " slip," cf. Dutch sloof, apron)

sleeve where such small objects were carried . Others connect the word with See also:

• LAT

Lat. studium, a See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place where one studies, hence a place where objects of study are carried, a somewhat far-fetched sense development .