English
harpoon
Harpoon comes from Latin harpaga.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEharpaga
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400harpon
- Englishearliest quotation 1969harpoon
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEharpaga
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400harpon
- Englishearliest quotation 1969harpoon
Earliest quotation: 1969, Kris Kristofferson, Me and Bobby McGee: “I took my harpoon out of my dirty red…”
The story
Sense and spelling perhaps influenced by Dutch harpoen (‘harpoon’).
Every English word from Latin harpaga
Today it means
noun A spearlike weapon with a barbed head used in hunting whales and large fish.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin harpaga / harpoon