Hull

Hull (in O. Eng. hulu, from helan, to cover, cf. Ger. Hülle, covering), the outer covering, pod, or shell of beans, peas, &c., also the enclosing envelope of a chrysalis. The word may be the same as “hull,” meaning the body of a ship without its masts or superstructure, &c., but in this sense the word is more usually connected with “hold,” the interior cargo-carrying part of a vessel. This word was borrowed, as a nautical term, from the Dutch, hol (cognate with “hole”), the d being due to confusion with “to hold,” “grasp” (O. Eng. healdan). The meanings of “hull” and “hold” are somewhat far apart, and the closest sense resemblance is to the word “hulk,” which is not known till about a century later.

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