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DictionaryRoot: apeler
Old French

apeler

to call

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A helmeted climber rappels down a sheer rock face, leaning back in his harness with boots braced against the rock and his brake hand controlling the rope below the descender.
noun / verb

rappel

ra-PEL/ræˈpel/

A controlled descent on a rope using friction.

Etymology
rOld Frenchback or again
+appelOld Frenchto call

The pieces mean “call back,” giving the noun sense “recall.” That noun became the mountaineering term for a rope descent, and then the verb for making one.

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