eOE (1974) 32 Liciatorium hebild [eOE Corpus Gloss. hebelgerd].
eOE (1890) 74/2 Licium, hebeld. Licia, hebeldðred.
OE (1955) 127 Licium, hefeld.
c1200 ( Latin-Old Eng. Gloss. (Bodl. 730) in (1981) 62 204/2 Liciatorium, hefeld.
a1300 Glosses to Garland's Unus Omnium (Durh. C.iv.26) in T. Hunt (1991) II. 164 Licium : hevele.
1608 Inventory of Robert Blome in M. Pelling (2013) iii. ix. 224 One iron with a strykinge shafte to make wollen hevells.
1675 J. Collinges v. 59 His feet are moving the treddles, which raising the heavels, do part the Warp.
1786 in 17 Mar. (1906) 209/2 A man here [sc. in Norwich] makes havels and slaies.
1806 4 772/2 The heavel..is a row of loops fastened to a spline, serving to lift or heave every thread of warp.
1851 Apr. 361/2 I was informed that the work which was best paid in connection with the weaving trade was that called the ‘havel work’, which consists in preparing the havel for the weaver.
1851 in (1854) 5 Aug. 118 (Occupations of the people) Havel and heald maker.
1855 E. W. Cox 6 200 Every thread of the thrum is put through an eye in the ‘hevel’ or tool, which has the effect of keeping them separate.
1888 F. T. Elworthy Hevel, the heddle or loop in the harness..through which the thread or end of the warp passes; consequently each thread must have its own separate hevel. In other districts this loop is called the eye of the heald.
1895 W. Rye Havel and Slaie, parts of the fittings of a weaver's loom.
1985 N. Evans ii. 33 In several cases slay and heavel-making appears to have been a subsidiary occupation for barbers.