harpoon English · revision 760
10 Oct 2026, 21:21 by bogdan “New entry from the dictionary sources (AHD, Barnhart, Etymonline, MW, OED, RHWU, Wiktionary, Hoad, MED, Word Origins)” current version
Initial text
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /hɑːɹˈpuːn/, /hɑːˈpuːn/^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[bor|fr|harpon]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) perhaps through Dutch ''harpoen'',^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from Old French ''harpon'' “cramp iron, clamp”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from ''harper'' “to grapple, grasp”, of uncertain origin.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) It may be Germanic, or from Latin ''harpa'' “hook”, [[der|grc|ἅρπη|tr=hárpē|t=sickle]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The sense and spelling may have been influenced by Dutch or by Basque, the language of the first European whalers.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A barbed dart or spear (1625, with ''harpooneer'' from 1613).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The earlier English word for the whaler's weapon was ''harping iron'' (1442).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) From 1694 ''harpoon'' named the barbed missile attached to a long line, thrown by hand or fired from a gun to catch whales and large fish.^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) The verb dates from 1747 in Etymonline and 1774 in the OED,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and was soon used figuratively.^(OED 1989) In medicine a harpoon was an instrument for removing small pieces of living tissue (1876).^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1442 – ''harping iron''.^(Barnhart 1995)
+ * 1613 – ''harponier''.^(Barnhart 1995)
+ * 1625 – a barbed spear.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)
+ * 1694 – the whaling harpoon with a line.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1774 – verb, to strike with a harpoon.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A barbed, spearlike weapon attached to a rope, thrown by hand or fired from a gun, used in hunting [[whale|alt=whales]] and large fish.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ===Verb===
+ # To strike, kill or catch with or as if with a harpoon.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[harpooner]]
+ * [[harpoonlike]]
+ * [[harpoon gun]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[harpy]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}