Etymologically
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weapon

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 23:51. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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