shrapnel English · revision 354

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈʃɹæpnəl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is named after Henry Shrapnel (1761–1842), the British army officer who invented the shell.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) The surname is thought to be a metathesized form of ''Charbonnel'', a diminutive of Old French ''charbon'' “charcoal”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A hollow artillery shell filled with bullets and a small bursting charge, designed to explode in the air in front of the enemy.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Shrapnel developed the shell as an officer in the Royal Artillery and called it “spherical case” ammunition;^(Etymonline)^(AHD) the name ''shrapnel shell'' is recorded from 1806 and was later adopted by the British army.^(AHD) The word came to be used of the balls in such a shell,^(AHD)^(Wiktionary) and from 1940, during the Blitz, of fragments from any shell, bomb or mine,^(Etymonline)^(AHD)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) a use Etymonline calls erroneous.^(Etymonline) In Australian and New Zealand military slang it also means small change.^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1806 – the shell.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1837 – verb, to shell with shrapnel.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1919 – Australian and New Zealand slang for small change.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1940 – fragments from shells or bombs.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Fragments thrown out by an exploding shell, bomb or mine.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An artillery shell filled with metal balls and timed to burst in the air near enemy troops; also the balls themselves.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Australia, New Zealand, slang)'' Small change.^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}