Etymology Map
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Lynch

3 stages from Irish to English.

Today it means (of a mob) to kill someone for an alleged offence without a legal trial

Where does the word "lynch" come from? It comes from Irish Lynch, passing through American English before entering English (1830s).

1
Stage 1 of 3
Lynch
Irish · medieval
"a family name"
an Irish surname, from Ó Loingsigh or the Anglo-Norman Lynch family, one of the fourteen 'Tribes of Galway'
2
Stage 2 of 3
Lynch's law
American English · 1780
"punishment without trial"
usually traced to Charles Lynch, a Virginia justice who ran extralegal courts punishing Loyalists in 1780, though Captain William Lynch of Pittsylvania County is a rival claimant
3
Stage 3 of 3
lynch
American English · 1830s
"to kill by mob action"
hardened into mob killing; the Tuskegee Institute recorded about 4,700 lynchings in the US between 1882 and 1968, most of them of Black Americans
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Read the full story

Lynch’s story begins in Irish: Lynch meant “a family name.” An Irish surname, from Ó Loingsigh or the Anglo-Norman Lynch family, one of the fourteen 'Tribes of Galway'. By 1780, the word had taken hold in American English as Lynch's law. Usually traced to Charles Lynch, a Virginia justice who ran extralegal courts punishing Loyalists in 1780, though Captain William Lynch of Pittsylvania County is a rival claimant. It reached English by 1830s as lynch. Hardened into mob killing; the Tuskegee Institute recorded about 4,700 lynchings in the US between 1882 and 1968, most of them of Black Americans. Today, lynch means (of a mob) to kill someone for an alleged offence without a legal trial.