derrick

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a crane with a movable boom, especially one used aboard a ship or at a construction site

   The crew secured the line to the starboard derrick before lifting the cargo.

2. 2
   noun

   a towerlike framework over an oil well or mine, used to support drilling or hoisting equipment

   The oil derrick stood above the wellhead on the empty plain.

Simplified etymology

Derrick comes from the surname of a London hangman active around 1600. The word first denoted a hangman or gallows, then a tackle attached to a ship’s mast, and finally any similar hoisting device.

Named for Thomas Derrick, an English executioner associated with a lifting frame used at Tyburn around 1600. The name passed from gallows-like hoisting apparatus to cranes and then to the framework erected over a well or mine.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary