propel

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English propellen,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Latin prōpellō (“to drive forth or onward, push forward”),^[6][4][3][5] from prō- (“forward”) and pellō (“to push, drive”),^[6][3][5][7] from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to thrust, strike, drive”), according to Watkins.^[3] The Latin verb is also the source of propulsion, through its past participle.^[7][8] The OED compares the rare propellere.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To drive away or out, expel: about 1440, in the English translation of Palladius on husbandry, of driving away bad smells.^[6][2][4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, "to expel", died out in the 17th century.^[9][10] In Scottish burgh records of 1571 the verb meant to urge something on or promote it,^[6] and by 1588 to drive or push forward;^[6] Barnhart dates this sense to Phillips's dictionary of 1658, and Etymonline to the 1650s.^[4][3] Johnson (1755) defined it simply as "to drive forward".^[11] It was later used of the power that moves a vessel or vehicle,^[6][10] and its derivatives propeller and propellant followed.^[4] In 19th-century American slang it could also mean to drink heavily.^[12]

Timeline

• c. 1440 – to drive away, expel (obsolete).^[6][2]
• 1571 – to urge on, promote.^[6]
• 1588 – to drive or push forward; to power a vessel or vehicle.^[6] Etymonline dates this sense to the 1650s,^[3] Barnhart to 1658.^[4]
• 1845 – American slang, to drink heavily.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. To drive or push something forward or onward; to give it the power to move: Small electric motors propel the boat.^[13][10][6]
2. To urge someone on or spur them: Ambition propelled her into politics.^[10][6]
3. (obsolete) To drive out or away; to expel.^[10][9][6]

Word family

• propellant
• propellent
• self-propelled
• unpropelled
• propeller
• self-propelling

Related words

• propulsion
• pulse
• impel
• expel
• compel
• repel
• dispel

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
13. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins