onager

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₂eǵ-“to drive”
2. Medieval Greek · derived fromὄναγρος“large siege engine”
3. Koine Greek · derived fromὄναγρος“wild ass”
4. Latin · derived fromonager“wild ass”
5. Late Latin · derived fromonager“large siege engine”
6. Old French · derived fromonager
7. Middle French · derived fromonager
8. Anglo-Norman · derived fromonager
9. Middle English · inherited fromonager
10. English todayonager

From Middle English onager, onagir (“wild ass; military catapult”), from Anglo-Norman onager, Middle French onager, onagre, Old French onager, onagre (“wild ass; military catapult”) (modern French onagre), from Late Latin onager (“large siege engine”), Latin onager (“wild ass”), from Hellenistic Koine Koine Greek ὄναγρος (ónagros, “wild ass”), Medieval Medieval Greek ὄναγρος (ónagros, “large siege engine”), from ὄνος (ónos, “ass”) + ἄγριος (ágrios, “wild”) (from ᾰ̓γρός (ăgrós, “countryside; field”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- (“to drive”)) + -ῐος (-ĭos, suffix forming adjectives)). The “military engine” sense alludes to the strong recoil of the engine, likened to an onager’s kick; see the 2007 quotation.

Words from the same roots