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rivet (n.)
c. 1300, "cinch on a nail;" c. 1400, "short metal pin or bolt inserted through a hole at the junction of two or more metal pieces," the point then hammered broad to hold them together; from Old French rivet "nail, rivet," from river "to clench, fix, fasten," which is of uncertain origin; possibly from Middle Dutch wriven "turn, grind," and thus related to rive (v.). Or the English word might be directly from Middle Dutch.
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