From Old French 'javelot,' possibly Celtic — naming the weapon for the simplest form of a pointed throwing stick.
A light spear designed to be thrown as a weapon or in competitive sport; in track and field, the throwing event in which athletes hurl a metal-tipped shaft for distance.
From Middle French 'javeline,' diminutive of Old French 'javelot' (a light spear, a javelin), possibly from Celtic — compare Welsh 'gaflach' (a forked stick, a javelin), Old Irish 'gabul' (a fork, a forked branch), from PIE *ghabhlo- (a forked branch). If the Celtic etymology is correct, the javelin was originally named for a forked stick — a branch with a natural point, the simplest possible projectile weapon. The word may have
The javelin may take its name from the Celtic word for a 'forked stick' — the simplest projectile weapon, just a branch with a natural point. German 'Gabel' (fork) and English 'gable' (the forked peak of a roof) may share the same root, making the javelin, the fork, and the roofline distant cousins.