Etymologically
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hammer

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈhæmə/ (UK); /ˈhæmɚ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English hamer, inherited from Old English hamor (“hammer”),[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *hamaraz,[3] source also of Dutch hamer, German Hammer and Old Norse hamarr (“hammer; stone, crag”).[3][5][6] The Norse sense suggests a tool with a stone head, and the Germanic words may come from PIE *ka-mer-, with reversed initial sounds, from *akmen, sharp stone (compare Old Church Slavonic kamy, stone).[3][5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A tool with a hard head for striking: about 725, in Beowulf, in Barnhart; before 1000 in the OED.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Word Origins notes that the original sense was probably a stone tool or weapon.[6] Figuratively, an aggressive and destructive foe is late 14th-century, after French martel and Latin malleus.[3] The striker of a firearm is from the 1580s, a small bone of the ear from the 1610s, and part of a piano from 1774.[3] Hammer and tongs, with great vigour, is from 1708, from blacksmithing,[3][6] and the hammer and sickle of Soviet communism is attested from 1921.[3] The verb, to strike with a hammer, is from the late 14th century; to work out laboriously from the 1580s, and to defeat heavily from 1948.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – a hammer.[2]
  • late 14th century – to hammer (verb).[3]
  • 1580s – part of a gun.[3]
  • 1708 – hammer and tongs.[3]
  • 1774 – part of a piano.[3]
  • 1921 – hammer and sickle.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A tool with a heavy metal head on a handle, used for driving nails or breaking things.
  2. A part of a mechanism that strikes, as in a gun, piano or bell.
  3. A metal ball on a wire thrown in an athletic contest.
  4. (anatomy) The malleus, a small bone of the middle ear.

Verb

  1. To hit repeatedly, as with a hammer.
  2. (informal) To defeat heavily or criticize severely.
  3. (hammer out) To work out with great effort: hammer out a deal.

Word family

  • hammerer
  • hammerable
  • hammerlike
  • hammered
  • outhammer
  • rehammer
  • sledgehammer
  • hammer out
  • hammerhead
  • malleus

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press