Wiktionary

onager

See also: onagër

English edit

WOTD – 28 June 2019
 
English Wikipedia has articles on:
Wikipedia Wikipedia

Etymology edit

 
A Persian onager (Equus hemionus onager), a subspecies of onager (type of wild ass), in Rostov-on-Don Zoo, Rostov Oblast, Russia
 
An onager (type of catapult) at Neurathen Castle in Saxony, Germany

From Middle English onager, onagir (“wild ass; military catapult”),[1] 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 Ancient Greek ὄναγρος (ónagros, “wild ass”), Byzantine Ancient Greek ὄναγρος (ónagros, “large siege engine”), from ὄνος (ónos, “ass”) + ἄγριος (ágrios, “wild”) (from ᾰ̓γρός (agrós, “countryside; field”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- (“to drive”)) + -ῐος (-ios, suffix forming adjectives)).[2]

The “military engine” sense alludes to the strong recoil of the engine, likened to an onager’s kick; see the 2007 quotation.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

onager (plural onagers or onagri)

  2. The Asiatic wild ass or hemione (Equus hemionus), an animal of the horse family native to Asia; specifically, the Persian onager, Persian wild ass, or Persian zebra (Equus hemionus onager).
    Synonym: (obsolete) hemionus
  4. (military, historical) A military engine acting like a sling which threw stones from a bag or wooden bucket powered by the torsion from a bundle of ropes or sinews operated by machinery; a torsion catapult.
    Hypernym: catapult
    Coordinate terms: mangonel, trebuchet
    • 2007, Jeff Kinard, “Ancient and Medieval Artillery”, in Artillery: An Illustrated History of Its Impact (Weapons and Warfare Series), Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 17:
      The onager, meaning "wild ass," derived its name from its powerful recoil, or kick, upon discharge; […] In addition, although Josephus described an onager in action hurling a 100-pound stone over 400 yards, most onagri achieved a shorter range than the ballista, thus exposing their crews to enemy archers.

Hyponyms edit

Related terms edit

Translations edit

References edit

  1. ^ “onager, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 26 January 2019.
  2. ^ “onager, n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2004; “onager”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading edit

Anagrams edit

Dutch edit

 
Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nl

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Latin onager, from Ancient Greek ὄναγρος (ónagros).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

onager m (plural onagers)

  1. onager, Asiatic wild ass, Equus hemionus
    Synonyms: halfezel, woudezel
  2. (historical) onager (Roman torsion catapult)

Latin edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From Hellenistic Ancient Greek ὄναγρος (ónagros, “wild ass”), from ὄνος (ónos, “ass”) + ἄγριος (ágrios, “wild”).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

onager m (genitive onagrī); second declension

  1. wild ass; onager
  2. onager (type of military engine)

Declension edit

Second-declension noun (nominative singular in -er).

Case Singular Plural
Nominative onager onagrī
Genitive onagrī onagrōrum
Dative onagrō onagrīs
Accusative onagrum onagrōs
Ablative onagrō onagrīs
Vocative onager onagrī

Descendants edit

  • French: onagre
  • Italian: onagro
  • Portuguese: onagro
  • Spanish: onagro
  • → English: onager

See also edit

Further reading edit

  • “onager”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “onager”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • onager in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • “onager”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers

Old French edit

Etymology edit

From Latin onager.

Noun edit

onager oblique singular, m (oblique plural onagers, nominative singular onagers, nominative plural onager)

  1. (clarification of this definition is needed)onager

Polish edit

 
Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology edit

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ὄναγρος (ónagros).[1]

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

onager m animal[2]

  1. onager (the Asiatic wild ass or hemione (Equus hemionus), an animal of the horse family native to Asia; specifically, the Persian onager, Persian wild ass, or Persian zebra (Equus hemionus onager))
    Synonyms: dżigitaj, kułan, kułan azjatycki, osioł azjatycki

Declension edit

Declension of onager
singular plural
nominative onager onagery
genitive onagera onagerów
dative onagerowi onagerom
accusative onagera onagery
instrumental onagerem onagerami
locative onagerze onagerach
vocative onagerze onagery

Noun edit

onager m inan[3]

  1. (military, historical) onager (a military engine acting like a sling which threw stones from a bag or wooden bucket powered by the torsion from a bundle of ropes or sinews operated by machinery; a torsion catapult)

Declension edit

Declension of onager
singular plural
nominative onager onagery
genitive onageru onagerów
dative onagerowi onagerom
accusative onager onagery
instrumental onagerem onagerami
locative onagerze onagerach
vocative onagerze onagery

References edit

  1. ^ Mirosław Bańko, Lidia Wiśniakowska (2021) “onager”, in Wielki słownik wyrazów obcych, →ISBN
  2. ^ “onager”, in Słownik gramatyczny języka polskiego [Grammatical Dictionary of Polish], 2022
  3. ^ “onager”, in Słownik gramatyczny języka polskiego [Grammatical Dictionary of Polish], 2022

Further reading edit

  • onager in Polish dictionaries at PWN
  • onager in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego
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