ballista Latin · revision 33666

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=grc βάλλω}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [balˈlɪs.ta]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [balˈlis.ta]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ballista''' ''f'' (genitive ballistae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''bālista'',^(OLD 2012) and the glossaries have ''ballistra''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[der|grc|βάλλω|tr=bállō|t=to throw]], through a Greek derivative;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) the TLL thinks that derivative is not recorded,^(TLL) while Köbler and Etymonline name it as [[m|grc|βαλλιστής|tr=ballistḗs]]^(Köbler 2010)^(Etymonline) and Wiktionary as [[m|grc|βαλλίστρα|tr=ballístra]].^(Wiktionary) Köbler traces the Greek verb to [[ine-pro|*gʷel-|t=to throw]].^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Plautus,^(Köbler 2010) in whom someone says that his fist is a ballista, his elbow a catapult and his shoulder a battering ram.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a military engine for hurling stones and other missiles, described in detail by Vitruvius.^(OLD 2012) Lewis & Short describe it as a large engine like a bow, stretched with cords and thongs, at first distinct from the [[catapulta]], which shot arrows, but later often confused with it.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lucilius mentions ballistas that threw hundred-pound stones, and Cicero says that ballistas throw harder the more tightly they are drawn back;^(Lewis & Short 1879) Caesar, Livy and Tacitus also use it.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Plautus and Lucilius also use it for the missile itself, and Plautus figuratively for an engine of misfortune aimed at someone.^(Lewis & Short 1879) English [[m|en|ballista]] dates from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, in jokes and figures of speech.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius, of engines hurling hundred-pound stones.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero, of the force of the ballista.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius describes its construction.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * late 14th century – Borrowed into English as [[m|en|ballista]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|ballista]], a military engine for hurling stones and other [[m|en|missile|alt=missiles]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The missile thrown by it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(figurative)'' An instrument of attack.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ballistārius]]

+ * [[ballistrārius]]

+ * [[exballistō]]

+ * [[arcuballista]]

+ * [[carroballista]]

+ * [[manuballista]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[catapulta]]

+ * [[en|ballista]]

+ * [[en|ballistic]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Ballista'' was also the name of a mountain in Liguria in Livy, and, in the ancient lives of Virgil, of a schoolmaster notorious for robbery on whom the young Virgil wrote a couplet.^(TLL)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}