polyspaston

English

Noun

polyspaston (plural polyspastons)

1. (historical) A hoisting-tackle with many pulleys.

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πολύσπαστον (polúspaston, “compound pulley”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /po.lysˈpas.ton/, [pɔlʲʏs̠ˈpäs̠t̪ɔn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /po.lisˈpas.ton/, [polisˈpäst̪on]

Noun

polyspaston n (genitive polyspastī); second declension

1. A hoisting-tackle with many pulleys.
   • c. 15 BCE, Vitruvius, De architectura 10.5:

     Hoc genus machinae polyspaston appellatur, quod multis orbiculorum circumitionibus et facilitatem summam praestat et celeritatem.

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter, Greek-type).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	polyspaston	polyspasta
Genitive	polyspastī	polyspastōrum
Dative	polyspastō	polyspastīs
Accusative	polyspaston	polyspasta
Ablative	polyspastō	polyspastīs
Vocative	polyspaston	polyspasta

Related terms

• pentaspaston

Descendants

• English: polyspast
• French: polyspaste
• Spanish: polispasto

References

• “polyspaston”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• polyspaston in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Liddell & Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon