hammer English · revision 7162

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725|origins=gem-pro *hamaraz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈhæmə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈhæmɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English hamer, [[inh|ang|hamor|t=hammer]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[gem-pro|*hamaraz]],^(Etymonline) source also of Dutch [[m|nl|hamer]], German [[m|de|Hammer]] and Old Norse [[m|non|hamarr|t=hammer; stone, crag]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) The Norse sense suggests a tool with a stone head, and the Germanic words may come from PIE *ka-mer-, with reversed initial sounds, from *akmen, sharp stone (compare Old Church Slavonic kamy, stone).^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A tool with a hard head for striking: about 725, in Beowulf, in Barnhart; before 1000 in the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Word Origins notes that the original sense was probably a stone tool or weapon.^(Cresswell 2021) Figuratively, an aggressive and destructive foe is late 14th-century, after French martel and Latin malleus.^(Etymonline) The striker of a firearm is from the 1580s, a small bone of the ear from the 1610s, and part of a piano from 1774.^(Etymonline) ''Hammer and tongs'', with great vigour, is from 1708, from blacksmithing,^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) and the hammer and sickle of Soviet communism is attested from 1921.^(Etymonline) The verb, to strike with a hammer, is from the late 14th century; to work out laboriously from the 1580s, and to defeat heavily from 1948.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – a hammer.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 14th century – to hammer (verb).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1580s – part of a gun.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1708 – hammer and tongs.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1774 – part of a piano.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1921 – hammer and sickle.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A tool with a heavy metal head on a handle, used for driving nails or breaking things.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A part of a mechanism that strikes, as in a gun, piano or bell.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A metal ball on a wire thrown in an athletic contest.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(anatomy)'' The [[malleus]], a small bone of the middle ear.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To hit repeatedly, as with a hammer.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' To defeat heavily or criticize severely.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(hammer out)'' To work out with great effort: ''hammer out a deal''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[hammerer]]

+ * [[hammerable]]

+ * [[hammerlike]]

+ * [[hammered]]

+ * [[outhammer]]

+ * [[rehammer]]

+ * [[sledgehammer]]

+ * [[hammer out]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[hammerhead]]

+ * [[malleus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}