Dictionary

lanyard en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈlænˌjɑːd/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈlænˌjɑɹd/ (General-American)
• /ˈlæn.jɚd/ (General-American)
• /ˈɫænjəd/ (Australia)
• /ˈlæn.jəd/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Received-Pronunciation) audio

Etymology

From late Middle English lainer, lainere, lanyer (“strap or thong used to fasten armour”) (with the ending modified in the 17th century under the influence of yard), from Old French laniere, lasniere (“thong, lash”) (see modern French lanière (“lanyard, strap”)). The French word is ultimately from Germanic, cognate with Old High German nestila (“band, headband; strap”) (modern German Nestel (“lace; strap; string”)), Old Norse nesta (“brace; fastener, strap”).

Meanings

1. A short rope used for fastening rigging, as a handle, etc.
   • "Take ahold here, an' keep ringin' steady," said Dan, passing Harvey the lanyard of a bell that hung just behind the windlass. 1896 November – 1897 May, Rudyard Kipling, chapter III, in “Captains Courageous”, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, published 1897, →OCLC, pages 101–102:
2. (broadly) A cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried such as an identity card or security pass, key, knife, or whistle.
   • Aboard ship he carried his crutch by a lanyard round his neck, to have both hands as free as possible. [...] [H]e would hand himself from one place to another, now using the crutch, now trailing it alongside by the lanyard, as quickly as another man could walk. 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Voyage”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part II (The Sea Cook), pages 79–80:
3. A craft activity done by intricately braiding thin colored plastic lines to make patterns, or the product of such a craft.
   • A few lousy days at Camp Minnehaha spent extracting oar splinters from your palms and taking group lanyard lessons under the full noonday sun. 2008, Natalie Angier, The Canon, page 58:
   • It's lanyard. It's a camp tradition. You'll have about a million lanyard key chains by the time the summer is over. 2006 07, Melissa J. Morgan, Natalie's Secret, ABDO, →ISBN, page 48:
4. (broadly) A cord with a hook which is secured to an artillery piece, and pulled to fire the weapon.
5. (UK, derogatory) A civil servant or mid-level bureaucrat, viewed as officious and overly concerned with social justice.
   • How even places devoted to truth and free inquiry slowly surrender to managerialist mediocrity and how, without anyone ever declaring victory, the lanyards win. 2026 July 3, Annabel Denham, “Has Britain's only free-thinking university been captured by the lanyard class?”, in The Telegraph:
   • Completely agree. Nowhere more so than in Scotlsnd^([sic]), where the lanyards are making a mockery of how a parliament should work. 2025 May 11, KH (@kh_99), Twitter:
   • DEI has allowed them to virtue signal and bolster their own positions simultaneously. Win-win for the lanyards. 2026 August 10, Andrew Neil (@afneil), Twitter:

Forms

Deriveds

lanyardism · lanyard class

Relateds

lanier

Translations (43)

hu nyakpánt (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · hu pánt (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · tr boyun askısı (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · es cordel (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · ca cordó (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · pl smycz (short rope used for fastening rigging, etc.) · hu hordpánt (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · ota فیلادور (short rope used for fastening rigging, etc.) · de Schlüsselband (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · fr dragonne (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · de Abzugsleine (cord with a hook secured to an artillery piece, and pulled to fire the weapon) · de Umhängeband (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · nl sleutelkoord (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · ca dragona (cord with a hook secured to an artillery piece, and pulled to fire the weapon) · fi taljanuora (short rope used for fastening rigging, etc.) · bg късо въже (short rope used for fastening rigging, etc.) · ga láinnéar (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · hu zsinór (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · fi avainnauha (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · ota كوستك (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · ca acollador (short rope used for fastening rigging, etc.) · hu rögzítőkötél (short rope used for fastening rigging, etc.) · tr köstek (short rope used for fastening rigging, etc.) · es cordón (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · es acollador (short rope used for fastening rigging, etc.) · de Trageband (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · es dragona (cord with a hook secured to an artillery piece, and pulled to fire the weapon) · ko 랜야드 (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · pt cordão (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · hu elsütőzsinór (cord with a hook secured to an artillery piece, and pulled to fire the weapon) · cs šňůrka (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · hu feszítőkötél (short rope used for fastening rigging, etc.) · ga láinnéar (short rope used for fastening rigging, etc.) · pl smycz (cord with a hook secured to an artillery piece, and pulled to fire the weapon) · sv nyckelband (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · tr köstek (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · fr lanière (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · es maroma (short rope used for fastening rigging, etc.) · cs šňůra (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · ru темля́к (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · nl houwtouw (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried) · cs šňůra (short rope used for fastening rigging, etc.) · pl smycz (cord worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist which is attached to a small object to be carried)

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