English
ballistic
Ballistic comes from Latin ballista ‘a military siege engine for throwing stones’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷelH-‘to throw, reach, pierce’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*gʷəlnōreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβᾰ́λλωbắllō‘to throw, cast, hurl’next step skipped: Ancient Greek βάλλω
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEβαλλίστρᾱballístrā‘catapult, engine of war’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEballista‘a military siege engine for throwing stones’
- Englishearliest quotation 2026ballistic
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷelH-‘to throw, reach, pierce’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*gʷəlnōreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβᾰ́λλωbắllō‘to throw, cast, hurl’next step skipped: Ancient Greek βάλλω
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEβαλλίστρᾱballístrā‘catapult, engine of war’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEballista‘a military siege engine for throwing stones’
- Englishearliest quotation 2026ballistic
Earliest quotation: 2026, Jennifer Rankin, Russia hits Kyiv with hypersonic ballistic missile in ‘deran: “Russia used its powerful hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile for…”
Formed from -ic
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- ‘to throw, reach, pierce’
symbolic, ballet, quail, quill, ballad, quell, obelisk, pul, symbolist, 64 more
through Proto-Hellenic *gʷəlnō
symbol, devil, emblem, metabolic, parable, hyperbolic, parabolic, embolism, anabolic, metabolize, hyperbola, 38 more
Today it means
adj Of or relating to ballistics.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- / ballistic