English Explanatory Dictionary

rivet

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A cylindrical mechanical fastener which is supplied with a factory head at one end and is used to attach multiple parts together by passing its bucktail through a hole and upsetting its end to form a field head.
  2. Any fixed point or certain basis.
  3. A light kind of footman's plate armour; an almain rivet.
verb
  1. To attach or fasten parts by using rivets.
  2. To install rivets (see Usage notes).
  3. To command the attention of.
  4. To make firm or immovable.
name
  1. A surname from French.

Pronunciation

/ˈɹɪvət/ en-us-rivet.ogg

Word forms

rivet rivets riveting rivetting riveted rivetted Rivest

Etymology

From Old French rivet (13th century), from the verb Old French river (“to fetter [a person]”) (12th century), from Old French rive (“rim, edge”) (ca. 1100), which is ultimately from Latin ripa (“riverbank”). Compare river, rival, riparian. The sense "kind of footman's armour" is apparently a back-formation from almain rivet, which is apparently derived from the English noun; see that entry for more.

Related words

riveters riveting riveter rivets riveted

Derived words

on the rivet pop rivet rivet counter rivet gun rivethead rivet hearth rivet knob rivetless rivetlike rivet wheat scrivet de-rivet rerivet rivetable unrivet
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