English
fat arrow
From fat + arrow, because of its thickness compared to ->.
Proto-West Germanic *fait
Proto-West Germanic *faitijan ‘to make fat’
Proto-West Germanic *faitid ‘fatted’
Old English fǣtt ‘fatted’
Middle English fat ‘fattened’
English fat
Proto-Indo-European *h₂érkʷo- ‘bow, arrow’
Proto-Germanic *arhwō
Proto-West Germanic *arhu
Old English earh
Middle English arwe ‘an arrow’
English arrow
The story
From fat + arrow, because of its thickness compared to ->.
Today it means
noun The => symbol, which has specific meanings in various programming languages.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / fat arrow