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DictionaryRoot: ballista
Latin

ballista

stone-hurling machine

1 / 1
A simple modern physics demonstration: a young scientist observes a small ball launched from a tabletop spring launcher, with a faint dotted trajectory showing its curved flight into a padded tray.
noun

ballistics

buh-LIS-tiks/bəˈlɪstɪks/

The study of how bullets and other projectiles move and what effects they have.

Etymology
ballistLatinstone-hurling machine
+icsEnglisha field of study or organized activity

The ballista hurled stones in warfare. With the discipline ending -ics, its name points to the study of how launched projectiles move, extending beyond any particular throwing machine.

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