derrick

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈdɛɹɪk/^[1]

Etymology

It comes from the obsolete derrick “hangman, gallows”,^[2][3] from the surname of a hangman at London's Tyburn gallows around 1600.^[4][5][6] Merriam-Webster places him in the 17th century.^[3] The name is a Low Countries form of the Germanic name Theodoric.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A hangman; hanging; the gallows (about 1600).^[7][5]

Semantic evolution

The hangman was often mentioned in plays of the time, and his name came to mean the gallows itself.^[5][4] By resemblance to a gallows, it was applied in 1727 to a hoisting apparatus for heavy weights;^[5][4] Merriam-Webster dates this sense to about 1752.^[3] In 1861, in American English, it was first used for the tower over an oil well.^[5]

Timeline

• about 1600 – a hangman; the gallows.^[7][5]
• 1600 – verb, to hang (obsolete).^[7]
• 1727 – a hoisting apparatus.^[5][4]
• 1861 – the framework over an oil well (American).^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A crane with a boom pivoted at the base of an upright mast, used to lift heavy objects.
2. A tall framework over a drilled well, especially an oil well, supporting the boring equipment.
3. (obsolete) A hangman.

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press