• vt. 发射（导弹、火箭等）；发起，发动；使…下水
• vi. 开始；下水；起飞
• n. 发射；发行，投放市??；下水；汽艇

来自lance,长矛，原指掷出长矛，引申词义发射，发动。

launch

launch: English has two separate words launch. The verb, ‘propel’ [14], is related to lance. Lances are propelled by throwing, and so the derived Old French verb lancier was used for ‘throw’. English acquired it via the Anglo- Norman form launcher. The sense ‘put a boat into the water’ emerged at the end of the 14th century. From the same source came modern French élancer ‘throw out’, whose derivative élan was acquired by English in the 19th century. Launch ‘boat’ [17] comes via Portuguese lancha from a Malay word related to lancharan ‘boat’.
=> élan, lance

launch (v.)

c. 1300, "to rush, plunge, leap, start forth; to be set into sudden motion," from Old North French lancher (Old French lancier) "to fling, hurl, throw, cast," from Late Latin lanceare "wield a lance," from Latin lancea "light spear" (see lance (n.)). Sense of "set (a boat) afloat" first recorded c. 1400, from notion of throwing it out on the water; generalized by 1600 to any sort of beginning. The noun meaning "a leap or a bound" is from mid-15c., from the verb. Meaning "the liftoff of a missile, spacecraft, etc." is from 1935. Launch pad attested from 1960.

launch (n.)

"large boat carried on a warship," 1690s, from Portuguese lancha "barge, launch," apparently from Malay lancharan, from lanchar "quick, agile;" English spelling influenced by launch (v.).

1. A series of technical foul-ups delayed the launch of the new product.

一系列技术问题延误了新产品的上市。

来自柯林斯例句

2. The ANC is about to launch a nationwide recruitment drive.

非洲国民大会打算在全国范围内发起招募运动。

来自柯林斯例句

3. This was enough to launch their careers into the stratosphere.

这足以让他们的事业平步青云了。

来自柯林斯例句

4. The satellite had been inactive since its launch two years ago.

该卫星自从两年前发射以来一直没起作用。

来自柯林斯例句

5. He would soon launch a second offensive, killing off the peace process.

他不久将会再次发动进攻，彻底毁掉整个和平进程。

来自柯林斯例句