javelin
/ˈd͡ʒæv.(ə.)lɪn/ noun, verb
Forms javelins javelining javelinning javelined javelinned
- noun A light spear thrown with the hand and used as a weapon.
- noun A metal-tipped spear thrown for distance in an athletic field event. “I managed to medal in the javelin throw.”
- noun A javelinfish (Coelorinchus australis).
- verb (transitive) To pierce with a javelin.
- verb (transitive) To throw like a javelin.
- verb (intransitive) To fall like a javelin.
Etymology
From Middle English chafeveleyn, gavelong, from Old French javelline, diminutive of javelot, diminutive of *javel, from Vulgar Latin *gabalus, from Gaulish gabulum (compare Old Irish gabul (“fork”), Welsh gafl), from Proto-Celtic *gablā (“fork, forked branch”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ-. The Old French term was also borrowed into Middle Low German as gaveline, and into Middle High German as gabilot. Cognate with gavelock, gaffle.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A sort of light spear, to be thrown or cast by thew hand; anciently, a weapon of war used by horsemen and foot soldiers; now used chiefly in hunting the wild boar and other fierce game.
- verb To pierce with a javelin. [R.] Tennyson.
Etymology [F. javeline; akin to Sp. jabalina, It. giavelina, and F. javelot, OF. gavlot. Cf. Gavelock.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “javelin”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details