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javelin.

A light spear thrown with the hand and used as a weapon.

7 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈd͡ʒæv.(ə.)lɪn/

  1. A light spear thrown with the hand and used as a weapon.

  2. A metal-tipped spear thrown for distance in an athletic field event.

    I managed to medal in the javelin throw.

  3. A javelinfish (Coelorinchus australis).

Where this word comes from

From Middle English chafeveleyn, gavelong, from Old French javelline, diminutive of javelot, diminutive of *javel, from Vulgar Latin *gabalus, from Gaulish gabulum (compare Old Irish gabul (“fork”), Welsh gafl), from Proto-Celtic *gablā (“fork, forked branch”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ-. The Old French term was also borrowed into Middle Low German as gaveline, and into Middle High German as gabilot. Cognate with gavelock, gaffle.

verb/ˈd͡ʒæv.(ə.)lɪn/

  1. To pierce with a javelin.

    transitive

  2. To throw like a javelin.

    transitive

  3. To fall like a javelin.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English chafeveleyn, gavelong, from Old French javelline, diminutive of javelot, diminutive of *javel, from Vulgar Latin *gabalus, from Gaulish gabulum (compare Old Irish gabul (“fork”), Welsh gafl), from Proto-Celtic *gablā (“fork, forked branch”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ-. The Old French term was also borrowed into Middle Low German as gaveline, and into Middle High German as gabilot. Cognate with gavelock, gaffle.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.