lance

English Online Dictionary. What means lance‎? What does lance mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English launce, from Old French lance, from Latin lancea.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: läns, IPA^(key): /lɑːns/
• (US) enPR: lăns, IPA^(key): /læns/
• Rhymes: -ɑːns, -æns

Noun

lance (plural lances)

1. A weapon of war, consisting of a long shaft or handle and a steel blade or head; a spear carried by horsemen.
2. A wooden spear, sometimes hollow, used in jousting or tilting, designed to shatter on impact with the opposing knight’s armour.
3. (fishing) A spear or harpoon used by whalers and fishermen.
4. (military) A soldier armed with a lance; a lancer.
5. (military) An instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home.
6. (metallurgy) A small iron rod which suspends the core of the mold in casting a shell.
7. (pyrotechnics) One of the small paper cases filled with combustible composition, which mark the outlines of a figure.
8. (medicine) A lancet.

Derived terms

Related terms

• lancet

Translations

Verb

lance (third-person singular simple present lances, present participle lancing, simple past and past participle lanced)

1. To pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon.

   Seized the due victim, and with fury lanced her back. Dryden.

2. To open with a lancet; to pierce.

   to lance a vein or an abscess

3. To throw in the manner of a lance; to lanch.
4. (informal) to steal or swipe

   He lanced my drink and spiked it!

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:lance.

Translations

See also

• javelin
• pike
• spear

Anagrams

• Calne, Lenca, ancle, clane, clean

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɑ̃s/
• Homophones: lancent, lances

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old French lance, from Latin lancea.

Noun

lance f (plural lances)

1. a spear, lance
2. (military) a lancer (a soldier armed with a lance)
3. a hose

Derived terms

• fer de lance
• lancette
• lancier

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

lance

1. inflection of lancer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Derived terms

• lance-roquette
• relance (form of verb relancer)

Related terms

Further reading

• “lance”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin lancea.

Noun

lance f (plural lancis)

1. lance, spear

Related terms

• slançâ

Galician

Verb

lance

1. (reintegrationist norm) inflection of lançar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlan.t͡ʃe/
• Rhymes: -antʃe
• Hyphenation: làn‧ce

Noun

lance f pl

1. plural of lancia

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈlan.ke/, [ˈɫ̪äŋkɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈlan.t͡ʃe/, [ˈlän̠ʲt͡ʃe]

Noun

lance

1. ablative singular of lanx

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

lance

1. Alternative form of launce

Etymology 2

Verb

lance

1. Alternative form of launcen

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French lance.

Noun

lance f (plural lances)

1. lance (weapon)
2. lancer; lance

Descendants

• French: lance

Old French

Etymology

From Latin lancea.

Noun

lance oblique singular, f (oblique plural lances, nominative singular lance, nominative plural lances)

1. lance (weapon)

Descendants

• Franc-Comtois: laince
• Middle French: lance
  • French: lance
• → Middle English: launce
  • English: lance
• → Middle High German: lanze
  • German: Lanze

Portuguese

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Deverbal from lançar.

Noun

lance m (plural lances)

1. throw (act of throwing something)

   Synonyms: arremesso, jogada, lançamento

2. bid (offer at an auction)

   Synonym: lanço

3. (sports) a series of actions carried out during a game

   Synonym: jogada

4. (informal) matter, thing (crux, subject; only used for non-physical things)

   Synonyms: parada, (Portugal) cena

5. (informal) thing, fling (romantic relationship)
6. flight (series of stairs between landings)

Derived terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

lance

1. inflection of lançar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “lance”, in iDicionário Aulete (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “lance”, in Dicio – Dicionário Online de Português (in Portuguese), Porto: 7Graus, 2009–2025
• “lance”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2025
• “lance”, in Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisboa: Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, 2001–2025
• “lance”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian lancia (18th century).

Noun

lance f (plural lănci)

1. spear, lance

   Synonym: suliță

Declension

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /ˈlanθe/ [ˈlãn̟.θe]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /ˈlanse/ [ˈlãn.se]
• Rhymes: -anθe
• Rhymes: -anse
• Syllabification: lan‧ce

Etymology 1

Deverbal from lanzar.

Noun

lance m (plural lances)

1. launch (act of launching)

   Synonym: lanzamiento

2. throw
3. cast (fishing)
4. situation
5. telling-off; scolding

Derived terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

lance

1. inflection of lanzar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “lance”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10