A tool with a thin blade at a right angle to the handle, used for shaping and smoothing wood.
From Old English adesa or adze; the origin is uncertain but possibly from a Proto-Germanic root. The tool itself is ancient, appearing in forms across Indo-European cultures, and the spelling shifted between 'adz' and 'adze' over centuries of English writing.
The adz is one of humanity's oldest woodworking tools—archaeologists have found adz-like tools in sites dating back 35,000 years, making it older than agriculture, and it's still preferred by master boat-builders and sculptors who say no power tool matches its control.
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