καταπέλτης Ancient Greek · revision 3126

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=4th century BC, Athenian inscriptions|origins=grc πάλλω}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''καταπέλτης''' (katapéltēs) ''m'' (genitive καταπέλτου); first declension; the literary spelling of [[καταπάλτης|tr=katapáltēs]].^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the spelling usual in literary texts of [[καταπάλτης|tr=katapáltēs]], which Athenian inscriptions have.^(LSJ 1940)^(Triantafyllidis 1998) That word is formed from [[κατά|tr=katá|t=down, against]], [[πάλλω|tr=pállō|t=to poise, hurl]] and the agent suffix [[m|grc|-της|tr=-tēs]]: “the hurler”.^(Wiktionary)^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) The origin of πάλλω is uncertain.^(Beekes 2010) LIV connects it with a root ⟨*pelh₁-⟩ “to swing”, which Beekes thinks possible but unproven.^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Athenian inscriptions of the 4th century BC list catapults as ''καταπάλται'', and comic poets of the same century use the form ''καταπέλτης''.^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was a war engine for hurling bolts or stones.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Aristotle has the phrase “to let fly the catapult”, and Polybius and Plutarch use the word too.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) The Hippocratic writings use it for a bolt or shot.^(LSJ 1940) Diodorus, Chariton and the Fourth Book of Maccabees use it for an instrument of torture, which Hesychius describes as a bronze device on which executioners dislocated the limbs.^(LSJ 1940)^(Lust 2003)^(Hesychius)

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+ Latin took it as ''catapulta'', from which English ''catapult'' comes.^(Triantafyllidis 1998) Modern Greek [[m|el|καταπέλτης|tr=katapéltis]] is a learned word for the ancient engine, the launching device of an aircraft carrier (after English), the loading ramp of a ferry, and figuratively anything utterly damning, such as a witness's testimony.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 4th century BC – Athenian inscriptions list catapults.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 4th century BC – Aristotle speaks of letting fly the catapult.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ * 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it.^(CGL 2021)

+ * 1st century BC – Diodorus uses it for an instrument of torture.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 1st century AD – The Fourth Book of Maccabees uses it for torture.^(Lust 2003)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|catapult]], an engine of war for hurling bolts or stones.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # A bolt, shot.^(LSJ 1940)

+ # An instrument of [[m|en|torture]].^(LSJ 1940)^(Hesychius)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[καταπάλτης|tr=katapáltēs]]

+ * [[πάλλω|tr=pállō]]

+ * [[en|catapult]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}