launch
pronunciation
How to pronounce launch in British English:
UK [lɔːntʃ]
How to pronounce launch in American English:
US [lɔːntʃ]
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- Noun:
- a motorboat with an open deck or a half deck
- the act of propelling with force
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- Verb:
- set up or found
- propel with force
- launch for the first time; launch on a maiden voyage
- begin with vigor
- get going; give impetus to
- smoothen the surface of
Word Origin
- launch
- launch: English has two separate words launch. The verb, ‘propel’ [14], is related to lance. Lances are propelled by throwing, and so the derived Old French verb lancier was used for ‘throw’. English acquired it via the Anglo- Norman form launcher. The sense ‘put a boat into the water’ emerged at the end of the 14th century. From the same source came modern French élancer ‘throw out’, whose derivative élan was acquired by English in the 19th century. Launch ‘boat’ [17] comes via Portuguese lancha from a Malay word related to lancharan ‘boat’.=> élan, lance
- launch (v.)
- c. 1300, "to rush, plunge, leap, start forth; to be set into sudden motion," from Old North French lancher (Old French lancier) "to fling, hurl, throw, cast," from Late Latin lanceare "wield a lance," from Latin lancea "light spear" (see lance (n.)). Sense of "set (a boat) afloat" first recorded c. 1400, from notion of throwing it out on the water; generalized by 1600 to any sort of beginning. The noun meaning "a leap or a bound" is from mid-15c., from the verb. Meaning "the liftoff of a missile, spacecraft, etc." is from 1935. Launch pad attested from 1960.
- launch (n.)
- "large boat carried on a warship," 1690s, from Portuguese lancha "barge, launch," apparently from Malay lancharan, from lanchar "quick, agile;" English spelling influenced by launch (v.).
Example
- 1. Several countries have developed alternative ways to launch satellites .
- 2. Why did the israelis launch their 27 december offensive ?
- 3. Why does the syrian military not rocket their position or launch a large-scale assault ?
- 4. Prisoners routinely launch mass hunger strikes to demand better conditions .
- 5. And similarly , 20 articles per month is lower than I would have expected at launch .