'assegai' originates from Portuguese, specifically the word 'azagaia', where 'azagaia' meant 'javelin' or 'spear'.

'assegai' changed from Portuguese 'azagaia' and entered English usage from early modern accounts of southern Africa (16th–17th century), eventually becoming the modern English 'assegai'.

Initially, it meant 'a javelin or throwing spear'; over time the word came to be associated specifically with the southern African spear used by groups such as the Zulu and is used generally in English for that type of spear.