A tool with a large, usually wooden head on a handle, used for hitting things gently or striking them.
From Old French 'maille' meaning hammer, which came from Latin 'malleus.' The word eventually became specialized for hammers with softer heads, often used in crafts.
Mallets are why we have the English word 'mail'—medieval armor was called 'mail' because it was made to resist the 'malleus' (hammer) strikes of battle; the tool and the armor share the same Latin root!
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