anvil, andvile, anvild, anvilt

[A.S. anfilt, cenfilt. In Dan. ambolt; Dut. aanbeeld, from aan = to, at, in, upon; and beeld image, statue, figure. On this etymology an anvil is that on which things are built or fashioned. So in Latin, incus is from in cudo to forge with a hammer, to fabricate: in = upon, and cudo = to strike, beat, pound, or knock. An anvil, then, is that on which anything is fabricated by being struck.] ANVIL. 1. A ma of iron or other material, smooth above, on which a smith hammers into the required form the metal which he has previously softened by heating it in a furnace. "So dreadfully he did the andvile beat, That seem'd to dust he shortly would it drive." Spenser: F. Q., IV. v. 37. IMG:content-0601.png:[blocks in formation] Used chiefly in the pa. par. (q. v.). ăn'-villed, pa . par. Fashioned on an anvil. with all care put on The surest armour anvil'd in the shop Of pa ive fortitude," Beaum, & Flet. Lover's Progre , iv. 1.