Gavelock

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A heavy iron bar used as a lever for prising or moving objects ; an old word for a spear or pike with a long shaft and pointed head
2. A strong iron crowbar employed to pry things apart ; a historical term for a long spear carried as a weapon
3. An iron bar serving as a lever for heavy work ; an archaic name for a lance or spear with a pointed tip

Etymology: Gavelock began life as a weapon. In Old English, "gafeluc" meant a spear or javelin, and it was built from "gafol," meaning fork, plus a diminutive ending, so the name roughly amounts to "little fork" or "little forked thing." The same family of words reaches into Old Norse, where "gaflak" had the same sense, and into Old French, where "gavelot" named a light throwing spear. Modern "javelin" descends from that French line, so the Old English weapon and the athletic event share a distant ancestor. Over the Middle English period the word shifted from the spear to a tool. The iron bar it names was used for prising and levering, and its forked or spear-like shape gave it the name. The connection is that the old word and the old tool both drew on the idea of a point or prong, even though the weapon disappeared from use.

Synonyms: crowbar, lever, iron bar