hockey

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈhɒk.i/, US /ˈhɑː.ki/^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown.^[2][3][4] It is perhaps related to Middle French hoquet “shepherd's staff, crook”, a diminutive of Old French hoc “hook”,^[2][5][6] since the hooked clubs used in the game look like shepherds' staves.^[2] Barnhart notes against this that in the United States the stick was at first called hawky.^[5] Collins derives it from earlier hawkey, of unknown origin.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A ball game played with curved sticks: 1527, implied in a document from Ireland that mentions “hockie stickes”.^[2][8][5]

Semantic evolution

The original game, now called field hockey, was played with eleven on each team.^[5] Ice hockey became known in the 1850s,^[5] and the term ice hockey appeared in 1883.^[5] In North America hockey alone has meant ice hockey since 1895.^[8] In American use hockey was also the stick used in the game, from 1839.^[8]

Timeline

• 1527 – a game with curved sticks.^[8][5]
• 1839 – the stick (US).^[8]
• 1883 – ice hockey.^[5]
• 1895 – ice hockey in North America.^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (chiefly British) A game in which two teams of eleven use sticks curved at one end to hit a ball into the other team's goal; field hockey.
2. (North American) ice hockey.

Word family

• grass hockey
• field hockey
• hockey skate
• hockey stick
• ice hockey
• road hockey
• roller hockey
• street hockey

Related words

• hook
• shinty

Usage notes

Hockey, the harvest-home festival of the eastern counties of England, recorded from 1555 and also spelt hawkey and horkey, is a different word.^[8][9] Hockey or oche, the line behind which a darts player stands, is from 1934.^[8][10]

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ 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
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
10. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press