projectile

C2+ Topic:War & Conflict

US /prəˈdʒɛktl/ UK /prəˈdʒɛktaɪl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
an object propelled through the air, especially as a weapon

The cannon hurled the projectile across the field.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an object propelled through... missile bullet shell shot rocket ammunition

Word family

Related forms project projection projector eject inject

Etymology

From New Latin projectilis, from Latin proiectus, past participle of proicere ('to throw forth'), from pro- ('forth') + iacere ('to throw').

proiectus Latin iacere Latin *yeh₁- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

War & Conflict

External links

# projectile

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /prəˈdʒɛktl/
**IPA (UK):** /prəˈdʒɛktaɪl/

## Meanings
1. an object propelled through the air, especially as a weapon

## Examples
- The cannon hurled the projectile across the field.

## Synonyms
- missile
- bullet
- shell
- shot
- rocket
- ammunition

## Related Forms
- project
- projection
- projector
- eject
- inject

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: proiectus
- Root: iacere
- Root: *yeh₁-

## Etymology
From New Latin projectilis, from Latin proiectus, past participle of proicere ('to throw forth'), from pro- ('forth') + iacere ('to throw').

## AI Etymology
Projectile comes from New Latin projectilis, from Latin proiectus, past participle of proicere ('to throw forth'), from pro- ('forth') + iacere ('to throw'). The historical chain includes Latin proiectus, Latin iacere, and Proto-Indo-European *yeh₁-. The quoted older senses, "to throw forth", "forth", and "to throw", supply the semantic anchors for projectile. The formation is best read as compound, participial, and borrowed: the word projectile carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a noun, "an object propelled through the air, especially as a weapon". Related English forms include project, projection, projector, eject, and inject. The result is a noun and adj whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- War & Conflict

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