cable

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkeɪ.bəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English cable, borrowed from Old Northern French cable (“large rope”), or through Anglo-Norman,^[2][3][4] from Medieval Latin capulum (“lasso, rope, halter for cattle”),^[2][3][5] from Latin capere “to take, seize”,^[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to grasp”).^[2] Hoad mentions an Arabic ḥabl “rope” behind the Late Latin word, associated with capere, and notes that Middle Dutch and Middle Low German kabel may have reinforced the English word.^[4] It is related to capture and captive.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A large, strong rope or chain used on a ship: probably before 1200 in Barnhart, in Layamon's Brut;^[3] about 1205 in the OED.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The anchor rope of a ship is a sense from about 1325,^[6] and a cable's length became a unit of distance at sea in 1555.^[6] The 19th century gave it new senses: a bundle of insulated wires for carrying electricity (1854) and for submarine telegraphy (about 1850),^[3][4] which led to a telegraph message (1883), short for cablegram (1868).^[3][2] The verb, to tie up with cables, is from about 1500,^[3][2] and to send a message by cable from 1868–1871.^[2][3] Cable television is attested by 1963, shortened to cable in the early 1970s.^[2][3]

Timeline

• a. 1200 – a strong rope, especially on a ship.^[3]
• c. 1325 – an anchor rope.^[6]
• c. 1500 – verb, to fasten with a cable.^[3][2]
• 1555 – cable's length.^[6]
• 1854 – an electric cable.^[3]
• 1868 – cablegram.^[3][2]
• 1883 – a message sent by cable.^[3][2]
• 1963 – cable television.^[2][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A thick, strong rope of fibre or steel wire.
2. A bundle of insulated wires that carries electricity or signals.
3. The heavy rope or chain used to hold a ship at anchor.
4. A telegraph message sent by cable; a cablegram.
5. cable television.

Verb

1. To send a message to someone by cable.
2. To fasten or provide with a cable or cables.

Word family

• cabler
• cablelike
• cable-ready
• cablecast
• cablevision
• monocable
• recable
• cablegram

Related words

• cablet
• capture
• captive
• capable

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 j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press