weapon

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈwep.ən/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English wepen, inherited from Old English wǣpen (“instrument of fighting or defence, sword”),^[2][3] from Proto-Germanic *wēpną,^[2][4] also the source of Old Frisian wēpin, Old Saxon wāpan, Dutch wapen, Old Norse vápn, German Waffe and Gothic wēpna “weapons”.^[2][3][4] It has no known cognates outside Germanic and may be a substratum word.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An instrument used in fighting: about 725 in Barnhart, in Beowulf;^[3] about 930 in the OED.^[5] In Old English it was also used figuratively of spiritual combat and for the penis.^[2]

Semantic evolution

By about 1300 it was used of things not made as weapons but serving in a struggle,^[2] and an animal's claws, horns or teeth are called weapons from 1635.^[5] Down to the end of the 16th century the plural also meant weapons collectively.^[5] The verb, to arm, is also Old English.^[5][6] Weaponry is from 1844^[3] and weapons-grade, of material for nuclear bombs, by 1961.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 725 – instrument of fighting.^[3]
• c. 888 – figurative use.^[5]
• c. 1300 – anything used in a struggle.^[2]
• 1635 – an animal's means of attack or defence.^[5]
• 1844 – weaponry.^[3]
• 1961 – weapons-grade.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An instrument used to attack or defend in fighting, such as a gun, sword or missile.
2. A part of an animal, such as a claw or sting, used in attack or defence.
3. Anything used to gain an advantage in a contest or struggle.

Word family

• weaponed
• weaponeer
• weaponize
• weaponry
• wapentake

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 e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster