Meanings
plural ballistas · plural ballistae · archaic plural ballistæ
- historicalengineeringAn ancient military engine, in the form of a crossbow, used for hurling large missiles.
In a telephone interview Mr. Winter said he had fired 120 homemade knödel (dumplings) last weekend with his specially designed ballista, a Roman engine of war using the crossbow principle.
1967 March 1, David Binder, “Pilots Agree to Fly Higher Over Home of a Protester”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*gʷelH-
- Proto-Hellenic*gʷəlnō
- Ancient Greekβᾰ́λλω (bắllō)
- Ancient Greekβαλλίστρᾱ (ballístrā)
- Latinballista
- Englishballista
Learned borrowing from Latin ballista, from Ancient Greek βαλλίστρα (ballístra), from βάλλω (bállō, “to throw”).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek βαλλίστρα
- βαλλίστρα (ballístra)crossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles
Arabic عَرَّادَة
- عَرَّادَة (ʕarrāda)crossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles
Bulgarian балиста
- балиста (balista)crossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles
Catalan balista
- balistacrossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles
Chinese Mandarin 弩炮
- 弩炮 (nǔpào)crossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles
Czech balista
- balistacrossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles
Finnish ballista
- ballistacrossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles
French baliste, malvesine
- balistecrossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles
- malvesinecrossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles
Greek βαλλίστρα
- βαλλίστρα (vallístra)crossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles
Italian balista
- balistacrossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles
Latin ballista
- ballistacrossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles
Persian خرکمان, عراده
- خرکمان (xarkamân)crossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles
- عراده ('arrâde)crossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles
Polish balista
- balistacrossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles
Portuguese balista
- balistacrossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles
Romanian balistă
- balistăcrossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles
Russian балли́ста
- балли́ста (ballísta)crossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles
Spanish balista
- balistacrossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles
Swedish ballista
- ballistacrossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles
Turkish balista
- balistacrossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with ballista
Cite this entry
ballista. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ballista
“ballista.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ballista. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ballista,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ballista.
Source: ballista on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.