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harpoon

Etymology and origin of the English word harpoon

History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /hɑːɹˈpuːn/, /hɑːˈpuːn/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French harpon,[2][3][4] perhaps through Dutch harpoen,[5][3][6] from Old French harpon “cramp iron, clamp”,[5][2][3][6] from harper “to grapple, grasp”, of uncertain origin.[2][3][6] It may be Germanic, or from Latin harpa “hook”, from Ancient Greek ἅρπη (hárpē, “sickle”).[5][2][3][4] The sense and spelling may have been influenced by Dutch or by Basque, the language of the first European whalers.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A barbed dart or spear (1625, with harpooneer from 1613).[7][2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

The earlier English word for the whaler's weapon was harping iron (1442).[2][3] From 1694 harpoon named the barbed missile attached to a long line, thrown by hand or fired from a gun to catch whales and large fish.[7][8] The verb dates from 1747 in Etymonline and 1774 in the OED,[3][7] and was soon used figuratively.[7] In medicine a harpoon was an instrument for removing small pieces of living tissue (1876).[7]

Timeline

  • 1442 – harping iron.[2]
  • 1613 – harponier.[2]
  • 1625 – a barbed spear.[7][2][6]
  • 1694 – the whaling harpoon with a line.[7]
  • 1774 – verb, to strike with a harpoon.[7][2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A barbed, spearlike weapon attached to a rope, thrown by hand or fired from a gun, used in hunting whales and large fish.

Verb

  1. To strike, kill or catch with or as if with a harpoon.

Word family

  • harpooner
  • harpoonlike
  • harpoon gun
  • harpy

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Harpoon.” Etymologically, 10 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/harpoon. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·