launch

English has two words spelled launch: “to throw, set going”, related to lance, and the boat, from Spanish or Portuguese.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /lɔːntʃ/, US /lɑːntʃ/, /lɔːntʃ/^[4]

launch¹ hurl, set going

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English launchen,^[5][2] borrowed from Old Northern French lancher, lanchier, corresponding to Old French lancier “to fling, hurl, throw”,^[5][2][3] from Late Latin lanceāre (“to wield a lance”),^[5][2] from lancea (“light spear”).^[5][2] The noun is from the verb.^[5][2] It is a doublet of the verb lance.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

“To rush, plunge, leap, start forth”: about 1300 in Etymonline^[5] and before 1300 in Barnhart, in Kyng Alisaunder.^[2]

Semantic evolution

“To throw, hurl, let fly” is from the mid-14th century,^[5] and “to pierce, lance” from about 1400.^[6][3] “To set a boat afloat”, from the notion of throwing it out on the water, is from about 1400,^[5][2] and it was generalized to any kind of beginning by 1600,^[5] as in launching an enterprise (1602).^[2] It was applied to other vehicles, such as rockets, by 1873.^[2] The noun, “a leap or a bound”, is from the mid-15th century (1440),^[5][2] the place where a boat is launched from 1711,^[5] the lift-off of a missile or spacecraft from 1935,^[5][6] the introduction of a new product from 1969,^[6] and the launch pad is attested from 1960.^[5] In dialect it meant “to take long strides” and was used of an eel trap.^[7][6]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – to rush, plunge.^[5]
• mid-14th century – to hurl.^[5]
• c. 1400 – to set a boat afloat.^[5][2]
• 1440 – noun, a leap.^[2]
• 1602 – to start an enterprise.^[2]
• 1873 – of other vehicles.^[2]
• 1935 – the launch of a missile.^[5][6]
• 1969 – of a product.^[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To throw or propel with force; to hurl.
2. To send off a rocket, missile or other self-propelled craft.
3. To put a boat into the water.
4. To set going; to initiate.
5. To introduce a product to the public or a market.
6. To begin a new venture; to plunge into something: launched into a speech.

Noun

1. The act of launching.

Word family

• launcher
• launchpad
• relaunch

launch² boat

Etymology

The boat is borrowed from Portuguese lancha (“barge, launch”) or Spanish lancha “pinnace”,^[5][2][8][3] apparently from Malay lancharan, from lanchar “quick, agile”;^[5][2][8] if so, the English spelling was influenced by the verb launch.^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The largest boat carried by a man-of-war: 1697 in the OED and Barnhart,^[6][2] the 1690s in Etymonline.^[5]

Semantic evolution

A large boat driven by steam or electricity, used for carrying passengers or for pleasure, is from 1865,^[6][2] and later a small motorboat.^[2][1]

Timeline

• 1697 – a warship's largest boat.^[6][2]
• 1865 – a steam or electric boat.^[6][2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A large boat carried by a warship.
2. An open or half-covered motorboat.

Related words

• lance
• lancer
• lancet

References

1. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster