laniard

[lan-yerd]

noun

lanyard.

lanyard

or lan·iard

[lan-yerd]

noun

Nautical. a short rope or wire rove through deadeyes to hold and tauten standing rigging.
any of various small cords or ropes for securing or suspending something, as a whistle about the neck or a knife from one's belt.
a cord with a small hook at one end, used in firing certain kinds of cannon.
a colored, single-strand cord worn around the left shoulder by a member of a military unit awarded a foreign decoration.
a white cord worn around the right shoulder, as by a military police officer, and secured to the butt of a pistol.

Origin of lanyard

1475–85; blend of late Middle English lanyer (< Middle French laniere, Old French lasniere thong, equivalent to lasne noose + -iere, feminine of -ier -ier²) and yard¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for laniard

Historical Examples of laniard

We hauled off the laniard of the whipstaff, and helped the man at the helm.
Gulliver's Travels
Jonathan Swift
We hauled off upon the laniard of the whip-staff, and helped the man at the helm.
Gulliver's Travels
Jonathan Swift

British Dictionary definitions for laniard

laniard

noun

a variant spelling of lanyard

lanyard

laniard

noun

a cord worn around the neck, shoulder, etc, to hold something such as a whistle or knife
a similar but merely decorative cord worn as part of a military uniform
a cord with an attached hook used in firing certain types of cannon
nautical a line rove through deadeyes for extending or tightening standing rigging

Word Origin for lanyard

C15 lanyer, from French lanière, from lasne strap, probably of Germanic origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for laniard

lanyard

also laniard, alternative spelling (influenced by nautical yard (2) "long beam used to support a sail") of Middle English lainer, "thong for fastening parts of armor or clothing" (late 14c.), from Old French laniere "thong, lash," from lasniere, from lasne "strap, thong," apparently altered (by metathesis and influence of Old French las "lace") from nasliere, from Frankish *nastila or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *nastila- (cf. Old High German, Old Saxon nestila "lace, strap, band," German nestel "string, lace, strap"), from PIE root *ned- "to knot."