poliorcetics

English

WOTD – 20 November 2021

Etymology

Partly:

• borrowed from Late Latin poliorcetica (“siege engines”) + English -s (suffix forming pluralia tantum) (poliorcetica is derived from Koine Greek πολιορκητικά (poliorkētiká, “things related to sieges”), the neuter plural of πολιορκητικός (poliorkētikós, “relating to poliorcetics, poliorcetic”), from Ancient Greek πολῐορκέω (poliorkéō, “to besiege, blockade”) (from πόλις (pólis, “city”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tpelH- (“city; fortification”)) + ἕρκος (hérkos, “enclosure; fence”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *serḱ- (“to emend, make good, recompense”))) + -τῐκός (-tikós, suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘of or relating to’)); and
• from poliorcetic (“relating to poliorcetics”) +‎ -s (suffix forming pluralia tantum).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌpəʊlɪɔːˈsɛtɪks/, /ˌpɒ-/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌpoʊliˌɔɹˈsɛtɪks/, /ˈpoʊ-/, [-ɾɪks]
• Rhymes: -ɛtɪks
• Hyphenation: po‧li‧or‧ce‧tics

Noun

poliorcetics pl (plural only)

1. (military) The art of siege warfare, namely, that of conducting or resisting a siege; siegecraft.
   • 1992, Lars Karlsson, Fortification Towers and Masonry Techniques in the Hegemony of Syracuse, 405–211 B.C. (Skrifter Utgivna av Svenska Institutet i Rom [Publications of the Swedish Institute in Rome]; 49), Stockholm: Svenska Institutet i Rom [Swedish Institute in Rome], →ISBN, ISSN 0081-993X, page 11, column 1:

     The grand battles of the Archaic and early Classical periods were replaced by the new art of poliorcetics.

Related terms

• poliorcetic

Translations

art of siege warfare

• Dutch: belegeringskunde f
• Finnish: piiritystaito
• French: poliorcétique (fr) f
• German: Belagerungskunst f

• Italian: poliorcetica f
• Portuguese: poliorcética (pt) f (archaic)
• Spanish: poliorcética f

Further reading

• siege on Wikipedia.Wikipedia