dart
DAHRT · noun
Origin
English dart comes from Middle English dart, from Old French dart/dard, from Medieval Latin dardus, from Frankish *darōþu ("dart, spear"), from Proto-Germanic *darōþuz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerh₃- ("to leap, spring").
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Journey
The word traveled from Frankish through Latin and French before settling into English as dart; the verb form, meaning to move suddenly, developed later in Middle English directly from the noun.
Related words
It's cognate with Old English daroþ/dearod ("javelin, spear, dart"), as well as Old High German tart, Swedish dart, and Icelandic darraður — all pointing back to the same Germanic root for a thrown spear.