Ballistic

How to spell ballistic

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce ballistic

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does ballistic mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to projectiles or to the motion of an object that is propelled and then falls freely under gravity.

Ballistic in a sentence

• The engineers studied the ballistic path of the missile after launch.

• Forensic experts matched the bullet using ballistic analysis of the rifling marks.

Where does ballistic come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek verb ballein, which literally meant 'to throw' or 'to hurl'. From that root the ancient Greeks and Romans built ballista, the name of a large catapult-like engine that flung stones and bolts at enemy walls. English took ballista directly from Latin, and by the eighteenth century scholars had coined ballistic to describe anything relating to the flight of thrown or fired projectiles, giving rise to the science of ballistics. The same ballein root quietly survives in surprising relatives such as 'parable' and 'problem', both involving something 'thrown' alongside or in front. The doubled letter L, the spot where writers often hesitate, comes straight from that Latin ballista and is worth fixing in memory.

How the word is built

• ballist- (from Latin ballista, a military engine for hurling stones)
• -ic (adjective suffix)