Etymograph

English

javelin

Javelin comes from Old French javelline ‘a type of long, thin, spear used as a weapon’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ- ‘to grab, take’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰeh₁bʰ-1‘to grab, take’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CEgabulum1
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*gabalus1next step skipped: Old French javelot
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400javelline1‘a type of long, thin, spear used as a weapon’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chafeveleyn1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611javelin1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English javelin
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “And when Phinehas the sonne of Eleazar, the sonne…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰeh₁bʰ-Wiktionary, English javelin‘to grab, take’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CEgabulumWiktionary, English javelin
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*gabalusWiktionary, English javelinnext step skipped: Old French javelot
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400javellineWiktionary, English javelin‘a type of long, thin, spear used as a weapon’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chafeveleynWiktionary, English javelin
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611javelinWiktionary, English javelin. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “And when Phinehas the sonne of Eleazar, the sonne…”

The story

The Old French term was also borrowed into Middle Low German as gaveline, and into Middle High German as gabilot.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ- ‘to grab, take’

able, due, doubt, ability, average, exhibition, habit, prohibition, debit, prohibit, dubious, endeavor, inhibition, inhibit, gab, debenture, habilitation, haver, aver, 26 more

Today it means

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

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “javelin”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ- / javelin

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