Meaning

noun an athletic competition in which a javelin is thrown as far as possible

noun a spear thrown as a weapon or in competitive field events

originFrom Middle English chafeveleyn, gavelong, from Old French javelline, diminutive of javelot, diminutive of *javel, from Vulgar Latin *gabalus, from Gaulish gabulum (compare Old Irish gabul (“fork”), Welsh gafl), from Proto-Celtic *gablā (“fork, forked branch”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ-. The Old French term was also borrowed into Middle Low German as gaveline, and into Middle High German…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0