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
- To throw or propel with force; to hurl.
- To send off a rocket, missile or other self-propelled craft.
- To put a boat into the water.
- To set going; to initiate.
- To introduce a product to the public or a market.
- To begin a new venture; to plunge into something: launched into a speech.
Noun
- 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
Modern meaning
Noun
- A large boat carried by a warship.
- An open or half-covered motorboat.
Related words
- lance
- lancer
- lancet
References
- ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster