trebuchet

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See also: trébuchet

English

trebuchet

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old French trebuchet, trebuket et al. (modern trébuchet), from trebuchier (“to overthrow, topple”), from tre- + *buchier, from Old French buc (“trunk of the body”), from Old Frankish *būk (“belly, trunk, torso”), from Proto-Germanic *būkaz (“belly, abdomen, trunk”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰōw- (“to blow, swell”). Cognate with Old High German būh (“belly”), Old English būc (“belly, trunk”). More at bouk.

Pronunciation

Noun

trebuchet (plural trebuchets)

  1. A medieval siege engine consisting of a large pivoting arm heavily weighted on one end.
    Hypernym: catapult
    Coordinate terms: onager, mangonel
    Medieval trebuchets are said to have been capable of launching 90-kg projectiles over distances of more than 300 meters.
    • 2003, Helen Nicholson, Medieval Warfare, Macmillan International Higher Education, →ISBN, page 95:
      With counterweight trebuchets at its disposal, a besieging force at last had the advantage in sieges, and it was probably the appearance of the trebuchet which prompted the changes in castle design from the mid-twelfth century onwards which were described in the previous chapter: the move from rectangular to round or multiform towers […]
  2. A torture device for dunking suspected witches by means of a chair attached to the end of a long pole.

Translations

Verb

trebuchet (third-person singular simple present trebuchets, present participle trebucheting, simple past and past participle trebucheted)

  1. To shoot with a trebuchet.

Further reading

Anagrams

Old French

Etymology

From the verb trebuchier.

Pronunciation

Noun

trebuchet oblique singular, m (oblique plural trebuchez or trebuchetz, nominative singular trebuchez or trebuchetz, nominative plural trebuchet)

  1. trebuchet, bird trap
  2. fall (instance of falling)
  3. place where a fall occurs
  4. trap; ambush

Descendants

  • English: trebuchet
  • French: trébuchet
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