Where Did the Idiom ‘Bury the Hatchet’ Come From?

And what does it mean?

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

A hatchet is a small ax, as shown in the featured image.

To bury the hatchet means —

• to end a dispute;
• to make peace;
• to settle differences; or
• to end a quarrel and become friends with someone.

It is believed that this phrase comes from the customs of Native American Tribes. Whenever two tribes made peace, they used to literally bury their war weapons such as hatchets, bows & arrows, spears, and lances deep into the ground to render them inaccessible.

Native American tribes used to bury their weapons into the ground as a gesture of making peace.

This gesture of burying the weapons showed that people are willing to become friends. Thus, this expression has come to refer to ending a dispute or making peace.

For e.g. —

“After not speaking to each other for years, the two brothers decided to bury the hatchet.”

The two brothers finally ended their dispute after years and became friendly again.

I hope you found this story interesting. If you did, buy my full course on Udemy or watch it for free on Skillshare by signing up here. This course covers nearly 380 idioms with their origins and backstories.

Hi, I am Gauri Shanker, a Vocab teacher and enthusiast. I teach vocabulary in a fun and engaging way. You can check out my courses here.