Politics & SocietyGreek → English
Ballista
/bəˈlɪstə/noun
An ancient siege engine that shot bolts or stones using twisted cords for power.
The Greek roots
βάλλειν
bállein
to throw, hurl
Literally: “thrower”
Follow a root:βάλλειν12 words
The story of the word
βάλλω may be the most productive verb in the language. A thing thrown alongside is a παραβολή, giving parable and parabola; a thing thrown in your path is a πρόβλημα; a token thrown together to match its other half is a σύμβολον; and the one who throws accusations across, ὁ διάβολος, is the devil. Roman engineers took the noun for a torsion engine that drove a bolt down a groove, powered by skeins of twisted sinew rather than a bent bow.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 16th century
Same family
ballisticsymbolproblemparabledevil
In a sentence
A ballista bolt could go through a shield and the man behind it.
The museum has rebuilt a ballista from the carbonised frame found at the fort.