A thin rod or pin used for spinning thread, or any tall, thin pole-like object.
From Old English 'spinel,' possibly related to 'spin.' The word has been used for the pin on a spinning wheel for over a thousand years, making it one of textiles' oldest technical terms.
The spindle is the unsung hero of human civilization—before industrial machines, every person who wore clothes depended on someone spinning thread on a spindle. This simple tool shaped economies, gender roles, and trade routes for millennia, yet most people today have never seen one.
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