Science & TechnologyGreek → English
Ballistics
/bəˈlɪstɪks/noun
The study of projectiles in flight, and the forensic matching of bullets to weapons.
The Greek roots
βάλλειν
bállein
to throw, to hurl
Literally: “the science of throwing”
Follow a root:βάλλειν12 words
The story of the word
Greek engineers built throwing engines, and the Roman ballista takes its name from their verb. The modern science acquired the word in the nineteenth century, once artillery became a matter of calculation rather than eyesight. That same βάλλειν throws its way through problem, something thrown forward, symbol, thrown together, and devil, from διάβολος, the one who throws accusations across at you.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
ballistaproblemsymbolparable
In a sentence
Ballistics matched the casing to a rifle seized two years earlier.
The gun ranges were recalculated once ballistics accounted for air density.