Politics & SocietyGreek → English
Onager
/ˈɒnədʒər/noun
The Asiatic wild ass, and also a Roman siege catapult with a single throwing arm.
The Greek roots
ὄνος
ónos
donkey, ass
ἄγριος
ágrios
wild, of the fields
Literally: “wild ass”
The story of the word
Ammianus Marcellinus explains the weapon's name. The machine bucked backwards when it loosed, like a wild ass kicking stones at whatever chases it. Soldiers had called it a scorpion before, for its raised sting of an arm, and the donkey won. The animal keeps the older sense: ὄναγρος is still the wild ass of the Asian steppe.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
In a sentence
A single onager could throw a stone heavy enough to breach a mud wall.
Onagers survive in small herds in the deserts of Iran and India.