hockey English · revision 5206

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=1527}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈhɒk.i/, US /ˈhɑː.ki/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is unknown.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) It is perhaps related to Middle French hoquet “shepherd's staff, crook”, a diminutive of Old French hoc “hook”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) since the hooked clubs used in the game look like shepherds' staves.^(Etymonline) Barnhart notes against this that in the United States the stick was at first called hawky.^(Barnhart 1988) Collins derives it from earlier hawkey, of unknown origin.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A ball game played with curved sticks: 1527, implied in a document from Ireland that mentions “hockie stickes”.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The original game, now called field hockey, was played with eleven on each team.^(Barnhart 1988) Ice hockey became known in the 1850s,^(Barnhart 1988) and the term ''ice hockey'' appeared in 1883.^(Barnhart 1988) In North America ''hockey'' alone has meant ice hockey since 1895.^(OED 1989) In American use hockey was also the stick used in the game, from 1839.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1527 – a game with curved sticks.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1839 – the stick (US).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1883 – ''ice hockey''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1895 – ice hockey in North America.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(chiefly British)'' A game in which two teams of eleven use sticks curved at one end to hit a ball into the other team's goal; [[field hockey]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(North American)'' [[ice hockey]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[grass hockey]]

+ * [[field hockey]]

+ * [[hockey skate]]

+ * [[hockey stick]]

+ * [[ice hockey]]

+ * [[road hockey]]

+ * [[roller hockey]]

+ * [[street hockey]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[hook]]

+ * [[shinty]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Hockey, the harvest-home festival of the eastern counties of England, recorded from 1555 and also spelt hawkey and horkey, is a different word.^(OED 1989)^(Wright 1898) Hockey or oche, the line behind which a darts player stands, is from 1934.^(OED 1989)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}