JAVELIN

javelin, a spear, particularly one light enough to be thrown, a dart. the javelin was often provided with a thong to help in casting (see spear). javelin-throwing is one of the contests in the athletic section at the international olympic games. formerly the sheriff of a county or borough had a body of men armed with javelins, and known as javelin-men, who acted as a bodyguard for the judges when they went on assize. their duties are now performed by the ordinary police. the word itself is an adaptation of fr. _javeline_. there are several words in celtic and scandinavian languages and in old english, meaning a spear or dart, that seem to be connected with _javel_, the base form in french; thus welsh _gaflach_, irish _gabhla_, o. norwegian _gaflok_, o. e. _gafeluc_, later in the form _gavelock_, cf. o. norman-fr. _gavelot_, _javelot_, ital. _giavelotto_. the origin seems to be celtic, and the word is cognate with ir. _gafa_, a hook, fork, gaff; the root is seen in "gable" (q.v.), and in the german _gabel_, fork. the change in meaning from fork, forked end of a spear, to the spear itself is obscure. jaw (mid. eng. _jawe_, _jowe_ and _geowe_, o. eng. _cheowan_, connected with "chaw" and "chew," and in form with "jowl"), in anatomy, the term for the upper maxillary bone, and the mandible or lower maxillary bone of the skull; it is sometimes loosely applied to all the lower front parts of the skull (q.v.).