late 13c. (late 12c. as a surname), from Old French lance (12c.), from Latin lancea "light spear, Spanish lance" (Italian lancia, Spanish lanza), possibly of Celt-Iberian origin. The French word spread into Germanic (German Lanze, Middle Dutch lanse, Dutch lans, Danish landse). Lance corporal (1786) is from obsolete lancepesade "officer of lowest rank" (1570s), from Old Italian lancia spezzata "old soldier," literally "broken lance."

"to pierce with a lance," c.1300, from Old French lancier, from Late Latin lanceare "wield a lance; pierce with a lance," from lancea (see lance, n.). The surgical sense (properly with reference to a lancet) is from late 15c. Related: Lanced; lancing.