[fet.tle] n (1740): state or condition of health, fitness, wholeness, spirit, or form--often used in the phrase in fine fettle
[2]fettle vt fet.tled ; fet.tling [ME fetlen to shape, prepare; perh. akin to OE faet vessel--more at vat] (1881): to cover or line the hearth of (as a reverberatory furnace) with loose material (as sand or gravel)