lance English · revision 14915

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1290|origins=la lancea}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /lɑːns/, US /læns/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|launce]], [[bor|fro|lance|t=spear, lance]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[la|lancea|t=light spear]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) which Varro said was a Spanish word, so that it may be Celtiberian or otherwise Celtic;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Hoad calls it of foreign origin.^(Hoad 1986) The verb is [[m|enm|launcen]], from [[m|fro|lancier|t=to throw, hurl, attack with a lance]], from [[la-lat|lanceō|t=to wield a lance, pierce with a lance]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) It is a doublet of [[launch]].^(Barnhart 1988) The French noun spread into the Germanic languages, as [[de|Lanze]], [[dum|lanse]] and [[nl|lans]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A horseman's spear: about 1290 in the OED, the late 13th century in Etymonline, probably before 1300 in Arthour and Merlin in Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It was a surname, Lance, in 1198–99.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb, to throw, thrust or pierce, is from about 1300,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and the surgical sense, to open with a lancet, from the late 15th century.^(Etymonline) A lancet was itself called a lance from 1575,^(OED 1989) and a horse soldier armed with a lance from 1602.^(OED 1989) Lancer is from 1590, in Marlowe's Tamburlaine.^(Barnhart 1988) A ''lance corporal'' (1786) is a partly nativized form of the obsolete lancepesade (1570s), from [[roa-oit|lancia spezzata|t=old soldier]], literally “broken lance”.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1198–99 – Lance (surname).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1290 – a horseman's spear.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – to lance (verb).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * late 15th century – to cut with a lancet.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1590 – lancer.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1786 – lance corporal.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A long spear with a wooden shaft and a sharp metal head, used by horsemen.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A similar weapon for spearing fish or whales.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A [[lancer]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(surgery)'' A [[lancet]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To cut into a boil or [[abscess]] with a lancet.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To pierce with a lance.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lancelike]]

+ * [[lancepod]]

+ * [[lancewood]]

+ * [[lanciform]]

+ * [[fer-de-lance]]

+ * [[freelance]]

+ * [[lancer]]

+ * [[outlance]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lancet]]

+ * [[launch]]

+ * [[lance corporal]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In the West Country and Cornwall the [[sand eel]] is called a lance or launce.^(Wright 1898)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}