A short metal pin with a flat head that holds two pieces of metal together, or to capture someone's complete attention.
From Old French 'river,' meaning 'to fasten or fix.' The word came from Latin 'rivus' (stream, river), originally meant to hold something in place like water is held in a riverbed.
Rivets literally built America—before welding, every bridge, building, and the Golden Gate Bridge was held together with millions of rivets. They were so iconic that 'Rosie the Riveter' became a symbol of female workers.
WWII 'Rosie the Riveter' imagery celebrated women riveters, but postwar erasure made 'riveter' implicitly male in industrial memory, obscuring women's 50% of wartime aerospace workforce.
Use 'riveter' neutrally; when referencing history, center women's contributions explicitly.
Women riveters achieved unprecedented economic independence and technical expertise during WWII; their labor was essential, yet systematically removed from industry histories.
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