"fool," 1936, abbreviation of Berkshire Hunt (or Berkeley Hunt), rhyming slang for cunt but typically applied only to contemptible persons, not to the body part.
This is not an objective, anatomical term, neither does it imply coitus. It connects with that extension of meaning of the unprintable, a fool, or a person whom one does not like. ["Dictionary of Rhyming Slang," 1960]
mid-13c., chace, "a hunt, a pursuit (of a wild animal) for the purpose of capturing and killing," from Old French chace "a hunt, a chase; hunting ground" (12c.), from chacier (see chase (v.)). Meaning "a pursuit" (of an enemy, etc.) is early 14c. Meaning "occupation or passtime of hunting wild animals" is from early 14c.; meaning "group of hunters pursuing game" is from 1811. Sense of "piece of privately owned open ground preserved for animals to be hunted" is from mid-15c.
"sorcery, witchcraft" among Africans in Africa and the West Indies, 1760, from a West African word, such as Efik (southern Nigeria) ubio "a thing or mixture left as a charm to cause sickness or death," Twi ebayifo "witch, wizard, sorcerer."
c. 1300, chacen "to hunt; to cause to go away; put to flight," from Old French chacier "to hunt, ride swiftly, strive for" (12c., Modern French chasser), from Vulgar Latin *captiare "try to seize, chase" (source of Italian cacciare, Catalan casar, Spanish cazar, Portuguese caçar "to chase, hunt"), from Latin captare "to take, hold," frequentative of capere "to take, hold," from PIE root *kap- "to grasp." The Old French word is a variant of cacier, cachier, making chase a doublet of catch (v.).
Meaning "run after" for any purpose developed mid-14c. Related: Chased; chasing. Ancient European words for "pursue" often also cover "persecute" (Greek dioko, Old English ehtan), and in Middle English chase also meant "to persecute." Many modern ones often derive from words used primarily for the hunting of animals.
by 1849 in reference to the "brotherhood" (founded 1847) of Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, and others (seven in all) who, encouraged by Ruskin, sought to revive the naturalistic spirit of art in the age before Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520).
