Standard Lemma 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
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).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: hemionus
Antonyms: none provided
noun
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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical
Topics: government, military, politics, war
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: catapult
noun
Asiatic wild ass
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: Equus hemionus
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: wild ass
Narrower terms: chigetai, dziggetai, Equus hemionus hemionus
noun
an engine that provided medieval artillery used during sieges; a heavy war engine for hurling large stones and other missiles
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: catapult, arbalest, arbalist, ballista, bricole, mangonel, trebuchet, trebucket
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: engine
History
From Middle English onager, onagir (“wild ass; military catapult”), 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 (ăgrós, “countryside; field”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h2eǵ- (“to drive”)) + -ῐος (-ĭos, suffix forming adjectives)). The “military engine” sense alludes to the strong recoil of the engine, likened to an onager’s kick; see the 2007 quotation.
Across languages
48 source translations are retained for this English entry.
