Editing Lance (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Warring States Bronze Pi, 5th-3rd C. BC.jpg|thumb|Lance head, [[Warring States period]]]]

The name is derived from the word {{lang|la|[[lancea (weapon)|lancea]]}}, the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] auxiliaries' [[javelin]] or throwing spear; although according to the [[Oxford English Dictionary|OED]], the word may be of [[Iberian language|Iberian]] origin. Also compare {{lang|grc|λόγχη}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|lónkhē}}), a Greek term for "spear" or "lance".

A lance in the original sense is a light throwing spear or javelin. The English verb ''to launch'' "fling, hurl, throw" is derived from the term (via [[Old French]] {{lang|fro|lancier}}), as well as the rarer or poetic ''to lance''. The term from the 17th century came to refer specifically to spears not thrown, used for thrusting by [[heavy cavalry]], and especially in [[jousting]]. The longer types of thrusting spear used by infantry are usually referred to simply as [[spear]]s or later as [[pike (weapon)|pikes]], though many other terms existed.