2400: chattel & cattle Jul 15, 2021

While the word 'chattel' is fairly unremarkable in its etymology, its history is enlightening. Unsurprisingly, it is related to the word 'cattle' and 'capital' in the sense of 'head'. The sense of any property goods, as opposed to real estate, was well established by the Middle Ages, certainly with some association to the meaning of 'cattle'. It was in the mid-17th century took on specific associations with slavery, and many abolitionists took the word with a new political meaning in their writings to emotional impact.