Etymologically
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hockey

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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

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