late 14c., darten, "to pierce with a dart" (a sense now obsolete), from dart (n.). Sense of "throw with a sudden thrust" is from 1570s. Intransitive meaning "to move swiftly" is from 1610s; that of "spring or start suddenly and run or move quickly" (like a dart) is from 1610s. Related: Darted; darter; darting.
early 14c., "metal-pointed missile weapon thrown by the hand," from Old French dart "throwing spear, arrow," from Proto-Germanic *darothuz (source also of Old English daroð, Old High German tart "a dart, javelin," Old Norse darraþr "dart"). Italian and Spanish dardo are said to be from Germanic by way of Old Provençal. Also used since Middle English of Cupid's love-arrows. Dart-board is from 1901.
type of small European freshwater fish, mid-15c., also dars, dase, dare, from Old French darz"a dace," nominative or plural of dart "dart" (see dart (n.)). So called for its swiftness. Another theory traces it to a Medieval Latin darsus "a dart," which is said to be of Gaulish origin. Also used of similar or related fish. For loss of -r- before -s-, compare bass (n.1) from barse and see cuss (v.).
1570s, "emit semen," from Latin eiaculatus, past participle of eiaculari "to throw out, shoot out," from ex "out" (see ex-) + iaculari "to throw, hurl, cast, dart," from iaculum "javelin, dart," from iacere "to throw" (from PIE root *ye- "to throw, impel"). Sense of "exclaim suddenly" is from 1660s. Related: Ejaculated; ejaculating; ejaculatory.
"evade duty," usually with off, 1919, probably from earlier sense "move lightly and quickly, dart" (1854), of unknown origin. Related: Skived; skiver; skiving.
also Methuselah, Biblical patriarch, son of Enoch, he was said to have lived 969 years, the oldest lifespan recorded in Old Testament. Used from late 14c. as the type of a very long life or long-lived person. The name is Hebrew Metushelah, which appears to be "man of the dart," from singular of methim "men" + shelah "dart."
town in Devon, England, named for its situation at the mouth of the Dart River, which is perhaps from a Celtic word for "oak."
1925, coined by Australian anthropologist Raymond A. Dart from Latin australis "southern" (see austral) + Greek pithekos "ape," a loan word from an unknown language. So called because first discovered in South Africa.
