trebuchet
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
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 edit
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈtɹɛbəʃɛt/, /ˈtɹɛb.jə.ʃeɪ/, /ˈtɹɛb.ju.ʃeɪ/
Audio (Southern England) (file) Audio (Southern England) (file) - (US) enPR: trěb’yo͞o-shet, IPA(key): /ˈtɹɛb.juˌʃɛt/, /ˈtɹɛb.jəˌʃeɪ/
Noun edit
trebuchet (plural trebuchets)
- 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 […]
- A torture device for dunking suspected witches by means of a chair attached to the end of a long pole.
Translations edit
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Verb edit
trebuchet (third-person singular simple present trebuchets, present participle trebucheting, simple past and past participle trebucheted)
Further reading edit
Anagrams edit
Old French edit
Etymology edit
From the verb trebuchier.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
trebuchet oblique singular, m (oblique plural trebuchez or trebuchetz, nominative singular trebuchez or trebuchetz, nominative plural trebuchet)