'launch' originates from Old French (Norman) and Middle English, ultimately from a Late Latin form related to 'lancea' ('spear'), where the root referred to a 'lance' or 'spear'.

'launch' changed from Middle English forms such as 'lancen'/'lauch(e)n' (influenced by Old French 'lancier') referring to throwing or hurling, and later came to be used for setting ships afloat and for sending projectiles, eventually becoming the modern English word 'launch'.

Initially, it meant 'to hurl or throw (like a spear)' and to 'let a ship down into the water'; over time it broadened to the current senses of 'set in motion', 'start', or 'send into the air/space'.