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har·poon

(här-pn)

A barbed spear attached to a rope and thrown or fired from a gun, used especially in whaling.

tr.v. har·pooned, har·poon·ing, har·poons

To strike, kill, or capture with or as if with a harpoon.

[Probably from Dutch harpoen, from Middle Dutch, from Old French harpon, possibly from harpe, clamp, claw, from Latin harpa, sickle, from Greek harpē.]

har·pooner n.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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