Phrase guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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noun
Synonym of aspergillum (“an implement, in the form of a brush or of a rod with a perforated container, for sprinkling holy water”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: Christianity
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: holy water sprinkler, aspergillum
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A 16th-century weapon consisting of a heavy ball set with spikes attached rigidly to a staff, used mainly in England; a morning star.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly, historical
Topics: engineering, government, military, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, politics, tools, war, weaponry
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: holy water sprinkler, morgenstern
Antonyms: none provided
History
PIE word *kéh2ilos From Late Middle English haly water spryngelle (“sprinkler for holy water”), from haly water, hōlī water (“water consecrated for use in religious ceremonies”) + sprenkil, springel, spryngelle (“sprinkler for holy water”). By surface analysis, holy water + sprinkle. Noun sense 2 (“weapon consisting of a heavy ball set with spikes attached rigidly to a staff”) is from its resemblance to the aspergillum, and apparently from the fact that it scattered blood when it came into contact with a person.
