# lance
## English
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) enPR: läns, IPA: /lɑːns/
* (US) enPR: lăns, IPA: /læns/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɑːns, -æns

### Noun

lance (plural lances)
* A weapon of war, consisting of a long shaft or handle and a steel blade or head; a spear carried by horsemen.
** c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], line 15:Thy brother’s blood the thirsty earth hath drunk, Broach’d with the steely point of Clifford’s lance […]
** 1909, Charles Henry Ashdown, European Arms & Armor, page 65:The head of the lance was commonly of the leaf form, and sometimes approached that of the lozenge; it was very seldom barbed, although this variety, together with the others, appears upon the Bayeux Tapestry.
* A wooden spear, sometimes hollow, used in jousting or tilting, designed to shatter on impact with the opposing knight’s armour.
** 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], line 49:What will you do, good greybeard? Break a lance, And run a-tilt at Death within a chair?
* (fishing) A spear or harpoon used by whalers and fishermen.
* (military) A soldier armed with a lance; a lancer.
* (military) An instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home.
* (metallurgy) A small iron rod which suspends the core of the mold in casting a shell.
* (pyrotechnics) One of the small paper cases filled with combustible composition, which mark the outlines of a figure.
* (medicine) A lancet.

#### Derived terms

* break a lance
* break one's lance
* fer-de-lance
* fire lance
* freelance
* lance bombardier
* lance bucket (cavalry)
* lance corporal
* lance-corporal
* lance fish (zoology)
* lance-jack
* lance knight
* lance-knight
* lancer
* lance rest
* lance sergeant
* lance skink
* lance snake (zoology)
* oxygen lance
* sand lance
* stink-fire lance (military)
* thermal lance
* thermic lance
* the tongue wounds more than a lance

#### Related terms

* lancet

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Verb

lance (third-person singular simple present lances, present participle lancing, simple past and past participle lanced)
* To pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon.
    Seized the due victim, and with fury lanced her back. Dryden.
* To open with a lancet; to pierce.
    to lance a vein or an abscess
* To throw in the manner of a lance; to lanch.
* (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: /lɑ̃s/
* Homophones: lancent, lances

### Etymology 1

Inherited from Old French lance, from Latin lancea.

#### Noun

lance f (plural lances)
* a spear, lance
* (military) a lancer (a soldier armed with a lance)
* a hose

##### Derived terms

* fer de lance
* lancette
* lancier

### Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Verb

lance
* inflection of lancer:
** first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
** second-person singular imperative

##### Derived terms

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

##### Related terms

* lancement
* lancer
* lanceur, lanceuse

### 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)
* lance, spear

#### Related terms

* slançâ

## Galician
### Verb

lance
* (reintegrationist norm) inflection of lançar:
** first/third-person singular present subjunctive
** third-person singular imperative

## Italian
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈlan.t͡ʃe/
* Rhymes: -antʃe
* Hyphenation: làn‧ce

### Noun

lance f pl
* plural of lancia

## Latin
### Pronunciation

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

### Noun

lance
* ablative singular of lanx

## Middle English
### Etymology 1
#### Noun

lance
* Alternative form of launce

### Etymology 2
#### Verb

lance
* Alternative form of launcen

## Middle French
### Etymology

From Old French lance.

### Noun

lance f (plural lances)
* lance (weapon)
* 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)
* lance (weapon)

#### Descendants

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

## Portuguese
### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈlɐ̃.si/
* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈlɐ̃.si/
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /ˈlɐ̃.se/
* (Portugal) IPA: /ˈlɐ̃.sɨ/

### Etymology 1

Deverbal of lançar.

#### Noun

lance m (plural lances)
* throw (act of throwing something)
    Synonyms: arremesso, jogada, lançamento
* bid (offer at an auction)
    Synonym: lanço
* (sports) a series of actions carried out during a game
    Synonym: jogada
* (informal) matter, thing (crux, subject; only used for non-physical things)
    Synonyms: parada, (Portugal) cena
    E aí, qual é o lance?So, what's up?
    Esse é o lance, mano. As coisas não podem ficar assim.That's the thing, dude. Things can't stay this way.
* (informal) thing, fling (romantic relationship)
** 2012, “Lancinho”, in Leiz (music), O Som das Multidões, performed by Turma do Pagode:Namora, mas adora um proibido E eu que sou culpado, eu que sou bandido Prefere um romance escondido Sai na madrugada pra dar lancinho comigoYou're dating, but you sure love the forbidden And then it's my fault, [and then] I'm the criminal You'd rather keep our hookups hidden You go out past midnight to go on a fling night
* flight (series of stairs between landings)
    Uma vez eu já caí dez lances de escadas. Não recomendo.I once fell ten flights of stairs. I don't advise it.

##### Derived terms

* lancinho

### Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Verb

lance
* inflection of lançar:
** first/third-person singular present subjunctive
** 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)
* spear, lance
    Synonym: suliță

#### Declension
## Spanish
### Pronunciation

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

### Etymology 1

Deverbal of lanzar.

#### Noun

lance m (plural lances)
* launch (act of launching)
    Synonym: lanzamiento
* throw
* cast (fishing)
* situation
* telling-off; scolding

##### Derived terms

* a pocos lances
* lance de fortuna
* lance de honor

### Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Verb

lance
* inflection of lanzar:
** first/third-person singular present subjunctive
** 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