horseshoe

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English hors-sho, also with the genitive horses sho,^[2][3] formed from Middle English hors + sho,^[4][2] that is horse and shoe.^[3][5][6][7] Etymonline finds it as a proper name from the early 13th century.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A shoe for a horse: before 1387, in John Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon, which tells of a man who could bend four horseshoes at once with his hands.^[3][2] Etymonline dates it to the late 14th century.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English a horseshoe could also be a token payment of rent,^[2] and the belief that finding one by chance brings luck is recorded from the late 14th century;^[5] nailing one over a doorway to keep out a witch was common in London until about 1800.^[5] From 1489, in Caxton, the word was applied to anything of the same shape,^[3] and in the United States to a sharp bend in a river (1795).^[3] Etymonline dates this sense to 1770.^[5] Johnson (1755) also gave it as the name of a herb,^[7] the horseshoe vetch, a sense recorded from 1578.^[3] In northern English dialect, horseshoes was the game of quoits (1825), sometimes actually played with horseshoes,^[3][5] and it is now chiefly North American.^[6] In slang, American horseshoes meant good luck in the early 20th century,^[8] and in Australia horseshoe was a verb, to criticize harshly (1901).^[8] The verb meaning to give an arch a horseshoe shape is recorded from 1874.^[3]

Timeline

• before 1387 – a shoe for a horse.^[3][2]
• 1489 – anything shaped like a horseshoe.^[3]
• 1578 – the horseshoe vetch, a plant.^[3]
• 1795 – a sharp bend in a river (US).^[3] Etymonline dates it to 1770.^[5]
• 1825 – horseshoes, the game of quoits.^[3] Etymonline dates it to 1822.^[5]
• 1874 – verb, to make an arch horseshoe-shaped.^[3]
• 1926 – in logic, a horseshoe-shaped sign.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A U-shaped iron plate nailed to the underside of a horse's hoof to protect it; also such a plate, or a picture of one, kept as a sign of good luck.^[9][4][3][6]
2. Something shaped like a horseshoe, such as a ring of hills or a bend in a river: The guests sat around a horseshoe of tables.^[9][4][6]
3. horseshoes: a game in which horseshoes or rings are thrown at a peg, chiefly in North America.^[6][3]
4. (logic) A horseshoe-shaped sign, also called a hook.^[6][3]
5. A horseshoe crab.^[3][6]
6. (now rare) The horseshoe vetch.^[6][3][7]

Verb

1. To fit a horse with horseshoes; to shoe.^[4][9]
2. To give something, especially an arch, the shape of a horseshoe.^[4][3]

Adjective

1. Shaped like a horseshoe: a horseshoe magnet.^[4][6]

Word family

• horseshoer
• horseshoe arch

Related words

• horse
• shoe

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins