frisbee

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈfɹɪzbi/^[1]

Etymology

It is a trademark,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} named after the Frisbie Bakery of Bridgeport, Connecticut,^[7][3][6] whose pie tins were tossed as a game by college students before the plastic disc was made.^[3][6] The spelling was changed to avoid legal problems.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A concave plastic disc that spins when thrown, used in catching games (1957).^[7][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The Wham-O Manufacturing Company bought the rights from the inventor Fred Morrison and registered the trademark in 1959.^[3] Students at Middlebury College are said to have thrown Frisbie pie tins in the 1930s, though Yale and Princeton make similar claims.^[3] The word is now often used for any such disc and for the game played with it,^[1] though Wiktionary notes that flying disc or disc is used to avoid the trademark.^[1]

Timeline

• 1930s – pie tins thrown by college students.^[3]
• 1957 – Frisbee.^[7][3][5]
• 1959 – trademark registered.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A plastic disc-shaped toy that players throw and catch (a trademark, often capitalized).
2. A game or sport played with such a disc.

Verb

1. To throw something in the manner of a frisbee.

Related words

• Frisian

References

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