anchor

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈæŋ.kə/, US /ˈæŋ.kɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ancre, anker, borrowed from Old English ancor (“anchor”), borrowed in the 9th century from Latin ancora,^[2][3][4] from Greek ἄγκυρα (ánkyra, “anchor, hook”),^[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *ang-, *ank-, to bend (see angle).^[3][2] It is said to be the only Latin nautical term used in the Germanic languages, as German Anker.^[3][5] It was reinforced in Middle English by Old French ancre.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A device for holding a ship in place: about 880 in the OED, before 899 in Alfred's Boethius in Barnhart.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense, that which gives stability or security, is from the late 14th century (1382).^[3][6] The unetymological -ch- emerged in the late 16th century, a pedantic imitation of a corrupt Latin spelling anchora.^[3][2] The verb is from about 1200.^[3][2] The last runner in a relay is from 1934, and the end man of a tug-of-war team from 1909.^[6] The host of a radio or television programme is from 1965, short for anchorman.^[3][6] Anchors as slang for brakes is from 1936.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 880 – a ship's anchor.^[6]
• c. 1200 – to anchor (verb).^[3]
• 1382 – a source of stability.^[6]
• late 16th century – the spelling with -ch-.^[3]
• 1934 – a relay runner.^[6]
• 1965 – a news anchor.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A heavy device dropped from a ship on a cable to grip the bottom and hold the ship in place.
2. Something that holds another thing firmly in place.
3. A source of security or stability.
4. The member of a team who runs or performs the last stage of a relay or competition.
5. An anchorperson; the main presenter of a news broadcast.

Verb

1. To hold fast by or as by an anchor.
2. To drop anchor or lie at anchor.
3. To present or coordinate a news broadcast.

Word family

• anchorless
• anchorable
• anchorlike
• anchorage
• anchorman
• anchorperson
• coanchor

Related words

• angle
• ankle

Usage notes

The American Heritage note calls the word's history a case study in levels of sophistication, from Germanic borrowing of a Roman nautical term to the learned -ch- spelling.^[5] A separate anchor, a hermit, is from Old English ancra (see anchorite).^[7]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster