ballista (n.)

ancient war engine used for throwing missiles, late 14c., from Latin ballista "military machine for hurling stones," from Greek ballistes, from ballein "to throw, to throw so as to hit," also in a looser sense, "to put, place, lay" (from PIE root *gwele- "to throw, reach").

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to ballista

*gwele-

*gwelə-, also *gwel-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to throw, reach," with extended sense "to pierce."

It forms all or part of: anabolic; arbalest; astrobleme; ball (n.2) "dancing party;" ballad; ballet; ballista; ballistic; ballistics; belemnite; catabolism; devil; diabolical; discobolus; emblem; embolism; hyperbola; hyperbole; kill (v.); metabolism; palaver; parable; parabola; parley; parliament; parlor; parol; parole; problem; quell; quail (v.) "lose heart, shrink, cower;" symbol.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit apa-gurya "swinging," balbaliti "whirls, twirls;" Greek ballein "to throw, to throw so as to hit," also in a looser sense, "to put, place, lay," bole "a throw, beam, ray," belemnon "dart, javelin," belone "needle," ballizein "to dance;" Armenian kelem "I torture;" Old Church Slavonic zali "pain;" Lithuanian galas "end," gėla "agony," gelti "to sting."

Trends of ballista

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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catapult

1570s, from French catapulte and directly from Latin catapulta "war machine for throwing," from Greek katapeltēs, from kata "against" in reference to walls, or perhaps "through" in reference to armor (see cata-) + base of pallein "to toss, hurl" (from PIE root *pel- (5) "to thrus

arbalest

type of crossbow, also arbalist, c. 1300, from Old French arbaleste "large crossbow with a crank" (12c., Modern French arbalète), from Vulgar Latin *arbalista, from Late Latin arcuballista "catapult," from Latin arcus "bow" (see arc (n.)) + ballista "machine for throwing projecti

mangonel

"military engine for hurling stones," mid-13c., from Old French mangonel "catapult, war engine for throwing stones, etc." (Modern French mangonneau), diminutive of Medieval Latin mangonum, from Vulgar Latin *manganum "machine," from Greek manganon "any means of tricking or bewitc

trebuchet

"medieval stone-throwing engine of war," c. 1300 (in Anglo-Latin from early 13c.), from Old French trebuchet (12c.) "stone-throwing siege engine," from trabuchier "to overturn, fall to the ground, overthrow" (11c.), from tra- (from Latin trans-, here expressing "displacement") +

engine

c. 1300, "mechanical device," especially one used in war; "manner of construction," also "skill, craft, innate ability; deceitfulness, trickery," from Old French engin "skill, wit, cleverness," also "trick, deceit, stratagem; war machine" (12c.), from Latin ingenium "innate quali

orange

late 14c., in reference to the fruit of the orange tree (late 13c. as a surname), from Old French orange, orenge (12c., Modern French orange), from Medieval Latin pomum de orenge, from Italian arancia, originally narancia (Venetian naranza), an alteration of Arabic naranj, from P

militia

1580s, "system of military discipline," from Latin militia "military service, warfare," from miles "soldier" (see military (adj.)). The sense of "citizen army" (as distinct from professional soldiers) is first recorded 1690s, perhaps from a sense in French cognate milice. Histori

carpenter

"artificer in timber, one who does the heavier sort of wood-working," c. 1300 (attested from early 12c. as a surname), from Anglo-French carpenter, Old North French carpentier (Old French and Modern French charpentier), from Late Latin (artifex) carpentarius "wagon (maker); carri

spurn

Middle English spurnen, from Old English spurnan "to kick (away), strike against, drive back," as with the foot (a sense now obsolete); also "reject with disdain, scorn, despise," from Proto-Germanic *spurnon (source also of Old Saxon and Old High German spurnan, Old Frisian spur

Elohim

a name of God in the Bible, c. 1600, from Hebrew, plural (of majesty?) of Eloh "God" (cognate with Allah), a word of unknown etymology, perhaps an augmentation of El "God," also of unknown origin. Generally taken as singular, the use of this word instead of Yahveh is taken by bib

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updated on October 04, 2022

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