catapulta

See also: catapultá, catapultà, and catapultă

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin catapulta. Doublet of catapult.

Noun

catapulta (plural catapultae or catapultæ)

1. A Roman catapult (weapon for launching projectiles).
   • 1801, Francis Grose, chapter 12, in A History of the English Army, volume 1, page 366:

     The projectile machines, or antient artillery, used by our ancestors about the time of the Norman invasion, were the scorpion, catapulta, balista, and onager of the Romans, with divers other species of the same machines, under a variety of different appellations.

   • 1863, Thomas de Quincey, Richard Bentley and Other Writings, page 128:

     This pantomime over, Bentley recoiled, with the spring of a Roman catapulta, to his natural pursuits.

   • 1863, "An Old Cricketer", The Cricket-Bat; and how to use it, page 90:

     The catapulta was formerly an engine of war, used by the Romans for casting javelins and stones against castellated walls. A modern form of catapulta has been constructed, with a view to do away with the necessity of bowling the ball.

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [kə.təˈpul.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [ka.taˈpul.ta]

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin catapulta.

Noun

catapulta f (plural catapultes)

1. catapult

Derived terms

• catapultar

Etymology 2

Verb

catapulta

1. inflection of catapultar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “catapulta” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Corsican

Noun

catapulta f (plural catapulte)

1. catapult

Related terms

• catapultà

Further reading

• “catapulta” in INFCOR: Banca di dati di a lingua corsa

French

Pronunciation

• Homophones: catapultas, catapultât

Verb

catapulta

1. third-person singular past historic of catapulter

Italian

Etymology 1

Noun

catapulta f (plural catapulte)

1. catapult
2. staff sling

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

catapulta

1. inflection of catapultare:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek καταπέλτης (katapéltēs).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ka.taˈpul.ta/, [kät̪äˈpʊɫ̪t̪ä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ka.taˈpul.ta/, [kät̪äˈpul̪t̪ä]

Noun

catapulta f (genitive catapultae); first declension

1. a catapult

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	catapulta	catapultae
Genitive	catapultae	catapultārum
Dative	catapultae	catapultīs
Accusative	catapultam	catapultās
Ablative	catapultā	catapultīs
Vocative	catapulta	catapultae

Related terms

• catapultārius

Descendants

• → Catalan: catapulta
• → English: catapulta (learned)
• → German: Katapult
• → Middle French: cacapulte, catapulte, cathapulte
  • French: catapulte
  • → English: catapult
• → Polish: katapulta

References

• “catapulta”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “catapulta”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• catapulta in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• catapulta in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “catapulta”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “catapulta”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin catapulta, from Ancient Greek καταπέλτης (katapéltēs), from κατά (katá, “downwards, into, against”), from πάλλω (pállō, “to poise or sway a missile before it is thrown”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ka.taˈpuw.tɐ/ [ka.taˈpuʊ̯.tɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ka.taˈpuw.tɐ/ [ka.taˈpuʊ̯.tɐ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ka.taˈpuw.ta/ [ka.taˈpuʊ̯.ta]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐ.tɐˈpul.tɐ/ [kɐ.tɐˈpuɫ.tɐ]

• Hyphenation: ca‧ta‧pul‧ta

Noun

catapulta f (plural catapultas)

1. catapult

Related terms

• catapultar
• trabuco, manganela, onagro

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French catapulter.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.ta.pulˈta/

Verb

a catapulta (third-person singular present catapultează, past participle catapultat) 1st conj.

1. to catapult

Conjugation

    conjugation of catapulta (first conjugation, -ez- infix)

infinitive			a catapulta
gerund			catapultând
past participle			catapultat
number		singular			plural
person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	catapultez	catapultezi	catapultează	catapultăm	catapultați	catapultează
	imperfect	catapultam	catapultai	catapulta	catapultam	catapultați	catapultau
	simple perfect	catapultai	catapultași	catapultă	catapultarăm	catapultarăți	catapultară
	pluperfect	catapultasem	catapultaseși	catapultase	catapultaserăm	catapultaserăți	catapultaseră
subjunctive		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	să catapultez	să catapultezi	să catapulteze	să catapultăm	să catapultați	să catapulteze
imperative		—	tu	—	—	voi	—
	affirmative		catapultează			catapultați
	negative		nu catapulta			nu catapultați

Related terms

• catapultă

Further reading

• catapulta in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kataˈpulta/ [ka.t̪aˈpul̪.t̪a]
• Rhymes: -ulta
• Syllabification: ca‧ta‧pul‧ta

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin catapulta, from Ancient Greek καταπέλτης (katapéltēs).

Noun

catapulta f (plural catapultas)

1. catapult

Derived terms

• catapultar

 

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

catapulta

1. inflection of catapultar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “catapulta”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014