launcher
/ˈlɔːntʃə/LAWN-chur
/ˈlɔntʃɚ/LAWN-chur
Meaninga person or thing that launches
Common meaning: a person or thing that launches (inferred)
- launcha light spearLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1032 · scan
- eragent ending: one who
Journey through time
- Latinlancea, -ae‘a light spear’
- Middle Englishlacchensource
- Englishlaunch‘to set going’
- Englishformed in English from launchlauncher‘a person or thing that launches (inferred)’ · today
Sources & notes
Inferred source: no dictionary we use has an entry for this exact word. Its history is worked out from closely related, listed words in the same family, and we are trusting that link, so bear that in mind. Inferred meaning: a person or thing that launches. It can be inferred from any of: launch.
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from launch + -er (inferred: this exact word is not listed in our dictionaries).
Roots
- lancea, -ae Latin “a light spear”
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