assault

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /əˈsɔːlt/, /əˈsɒlt/, US /əˈsɔːlt/, /əˈsɑːlt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English asaut, assaut, borrowed from Old French asaut, assaut (“attack”),^[2][3][4] from Vulgar Latin *assaltus,^[3][4] from Latin ad- “to” and saltāre, a frequentative of salīre “to leap”.^[5][6] The -l- was restored after Latin, as in fault and vault.^[2][3] It is related to assail, salient and sally.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A hostile rush upon someone, and the charge of a force against the walls of a city: 1297 in the OED.^[7][2] Etymonline has the form asaut from about 1200, and an attack by spiritual enemies, a temptation, is from about 1230.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

An unlawful attack on a person is from 1447–8,^[7] and in law it is by the 1580s.^[2] Historically, an assault in law included threatening words or actions with present means to carry them out, while battery is an actual blow.^[2][7] An attack on institutions or opinions is from about 1449,^[7] and a fencing bout from 1694.^[7] The verb, to attack physically, is from the early 15th century (about 1410 in Barnhart).^[2][3] The spelling saulte is in Palsgrave in 1530.^[3]

Timeline

• 1297 – an attack.^[7]
• c. 1410 – verb.^[3]
• 1447–8 – an unlawful attack on a person.^[7]
• 1580s – in law.^[2]
• 1694 – in fencing.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A violent physical attack on someone.
2. (law) A threat or attempt to harm someone, sometimes including the use of force.
3. A military attack, especially on a fortified place.
4. A strong verbal attack or criticism.

Verb

1. To attack someone violently.
2. To rape.

Word family

• assaulter
• assaultable
• counterassault
• nonassault
• unassaulted
• assaultive
• aggravated assault
• assault and battery

Related words

• assail
• salient
• sally
• somersault

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 g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ 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