The word "hackel" refers to a type of feather often used in fly fishing. It is spelled with an "e" before the final "l," indicating a long vowel sound in the second syllable. The phonetic transcription of the word is /ˈhækəl/. The symbol /ˈh/ represents the initial sound, which is a voiceless glottal fricative. The symbol /ə/ represents the schwa sound in the second syllable, while the final /l/ represents a voiced alveolar lateral approximant.
The word "hackel" comes from the Middle English word "hacheler", which is derived from the Old French word "hacheler". In turn, the Old French term is derived from the Frankish word "haccōn" or "haccā". The Old High German equivalent is "hakōn", which means "to hack". The word "hackel" specifically refers to a flax comb used to separate and clean the fibers of flax or hemp.