catapult, arbalest, arbalist, ballista, bricole, mangonel, onager, trebuchet, trebucket
(noun) an engine that provided medieval artillery used during sieges; a heavy war engine for hurling large stones and other missiles
Source: WordNet® 3.1
trebuchet (plural trebuchets)
A medieval siege engine consisting of a large pivoting arm heavily weighted on one end.
A torture device for dunking suspected witches by means of a chair attached to the end of a long pole.
• Burchette
Source: Wiktionary
Treb"u*chet, Tre"buck*et, n. Etym: [OF. trebuchet, trebukiet, an engine of war for hurling stones, F. trébuchet a gin, trap, a kind of balance, fr. OF. trebuchier, trebuquier, to stumble, trip, F. trébucher.]
1. A cucking stool; a tumbrel. Cowell.
2. A military engine used in the Middle Ages for throwing stones, etc. It acted by means of a great weight fastened to the short arm of a lever, which, being let fall, raised the end of the long arm with great velocity, hurling stones with much force.
3. A kind of balance for weighing. [Obs.]
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
31 January 2025
(noun) the act of dispersing or diffusing something; “the dispersion of the troops”; “the diffusion of knowledge”
The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.
