The only attestation of this word is of little help to determine its precise meaning. The DMF article suggests that the word is used to refer to a small door within a larger one, as can be found in a church entrance or town gate. Behind this must lie the etymological interpretation of the word as a diminutive of us², and therefore the definition is included in the AND as a plausible interpretation, despite the lack of contextual evidence. In contrast, the juxtaposition of the word to assel and essel can also be found in a passage of Bibbesworth’s Tretiz, where the context and the Middle English glosses suggest that the word should be read as a variant of heesel. The words ussel and heesel are both formally and semantically so similar (they are only differentiated by their etymologies) that it is difficult to truly separate them.