projectilen.adj.
/prəˈdʒɛktʌɪl/, U.S. /prəˈdʒɛktl/, /prəˈdʒɛkˌtaɪl/ A. n.
An object projected or propelled through space, the air, etc.; esp. a missile designed to be fired from a gun or rocket. Also figurative.
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the world > movement > impelling or driving > projecting through space or throwing > [noun] > throwing missiles > a projectile
cast1556
projectile1654
missile1656
forthcast1674
trajectile1860
trajectory1861
bird1913
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > [noun] > missile discharged from weapon
shotc893
shotec1330
projectile1654
outcast1674
project1675
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > bullet or shot collectively > of cannon > a ball, etc., from cannon
project1675
projectile1729
1654 W. Charleton Physiologia Epicuro-Gassendo-Charltoniana iv. ii. 450 Philosophers seldom or never Exemplifie Violent motion, but in Projectills, whether they be projected upward, or downward.
1665 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 1 109 He [sc. A. Kircher] delivers..Discourses of the Motion of heavy Bodies, of Pendulems, of Projectils.
1729 G. Shelvocke, Jr. tr. K. Siemienowicz Great Art Artillery v. 312 Under the head of Missiles, by which is meant Projectiles, we will range Fire-Darts, Arrows and Javelins, Fire-Pots and Flasks.
1775 J. Banks Epitome Course Lect. 87 Every projectile is acted upon by two forces, the impetus or projectile force, and the power of gravity.
1826 Sheridaniana 253 The projectiles of wit.
1837 W. Whewell Hist. Inductive Sci. II. vi. iii. 55 The parabolic motion of projectiles.
1890 Cent. Dict. (at cited word) Projectiles used in smooth-bore guns are..sometimes oblong..as in the Manby, Parrott, and Lyle life-saving projectiles.
1917 E. R. Burroughs Princess of Mars iii. 31 The small caliber, explosive, radium projectiles which they use... are deadly in the extreme.
1988 Antiquity 62 661/1 The arrow..is the projectile shot from a bow.
2001 CovertAction Q. Winter 2/2 The radioactivity of one cigar sized projectile I found in an Iraqi combat area measured 11 microSV per hour.
B. adj.
1. That propels; that drives forwards or onwards. Now rare.
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the world > movement > impelling or driving > [adjective] > propulsive
remigial1592
propellant1644
propulsive1648
propulsory1656
protrusive1676
projectile1696
projective1697
propelling1710
elastic1712
propulsatory1826
1696 W. Whiston New Theory of Earth i. 8 The Body B retains its Projectile force along a straight line in every point of its Course.
1756 J. Ferguson Astron. Explained iv. 55 When the planet has got round to B, it's projectile force is as much diminished..as it was augmented.
1801 H. Fuseli Lect. Painting I. iii. 106 The laws of attraction, the projectile and centrifuge qualities of the system.
1822 J. M. Good Study Med. II. 15 That the pulse, if the systole of the heart were the only projectile force, must take place, [etc.].
1862 E. Bulwer-Lytton Strange Story I. xxxi. 239 In this trance there is an extraordinary cerebral activity—a projectile force given to the mind—distinct from the soul.
1961 W. M. Cruickshank et al. Teaching Meth. Brain-injured Children 491 The bullet went a few inches and dropped down without having any projectile force.
2. Of motion or velocity: caused by an impulse supplied by another body; arising from the capacity of the moving body to retain an initial impetus. Now chiefly historical.
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the world > movement > impelling or driving > [adjective] > caused by impulse
projectile1696
1696 W. Whiston New Theory of Earth i. 8 From the Uniform Projectile Motion of Bodies in straight lines.
1708 J. Keill Acct. Animal Secretion 81 The projectile Velocity of the Planets.
1715 G. Cheyne Philos. Princ. Relig. (ed. 2) i. iv. 156 To have destroy'd the projectil Motion.
1807 T. Young Course Lect. Nat. Philos. I. xxxix. 457 The minute particles of light themselves receive, at the time of their emission, certain rotatory and vibratory motions, which they retain as long as their projectile motion continues.
1828 O. Gregory Hutton's Course Math. (ed. 9) II. 208 In case of great projectile velocities.
1941 Jrnl. Philos. 38 693 Both theories exclude any possibility of accounting for projectile motion by the modern law of inertia.
2003 Jrnl. Hist. Ideas 64 526 The role the medium plays in projectile motion is simply resistance.
3.
a. Of a weapon: that discharges or launches arrows, bullets, missiles, etc.
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1741 Mem. Martinus Scriblerus xiv. 58 in A. Pope Wks. II His skill in war lying rather in the close fight than in projectile weapons, he endeavour'd to close with him.
1804 W. Thomson Mil. Mem. 214 It would be a curious inquiry to compare the projectile arms of the antients, both great and small, with those which owe their invention to the use of that inflammable substance, gunpowder.
1832 Gentleman's Mag. Mar. 209/1 The bow has one eminent advantage over the modern projectile weapons by which it has been superseded.
1865 E. India (Bootan): Papers 259 in Parl. Papers H.C. 47 XXXIX. 155 The rest of their projectile armament consists of bows, slings, and the catapult.
1939 Country Life 4 Mar. 235/1 The sling is about the one projectile weapon on which I can call to mind no book.
2014 Harbinger (Illinois Central College) (Nexis) 12 Feb. 1 Any sort of projectile weapon, such as a pistol, paintball gun, BB gun, flare gun, Taser or bow, whether loaded or unloaded.
b. Of a thing: that is a projectile; capable of being projected by force, esp. of being thrown or used as a missile.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > [adjective]
missive1548
missile1610
projectile1838
the world > movement > impelling or driving > projecting through space or throwing > [adjective] > of or relating to projectile > projected through space > able to be projected through space
missile1610
projectile1838
1838 Q. Rev. 62 397 These noble ‘Bestiarii’ fought with the ‘rejon’, a short projectile spear, about four feet long.
1859 J. Scoffern Projectile Weapons (ed. 4) 219 The Americans term the new elongated projectile conoids ‘pickets’; and a very good term it is.
1948 A. L. Kroeber Anthropol. (rev. ed.) xvi. 678 The typical fine ‘Folsom points’ are projectile heads made by pressure chipping.
1997 M. Groening et al. Simpsons: Compl. Guide 206/3 A projectile prop pig flies into his gut at point-blank range.
2000 N. DeMille Lion's Game xlvii. 542 We have various non-lethal weapons and devices, such as the goo-gun and the projectile net.
4. Zoology. Capable of being rapidly protruded or extended, esp. to capture prey, as the jaws of certain fishes and the tongue of some amphibians.
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the world > animals > animal body > general parts > [adjective] > extended or extendable
protractile?a1808
projectile1817
porrect1819
protrusile1846
porrectate1890
1817 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 107 339 These animals differ from the leech..in the mouth being furnished with a projectile tubular tongue.
1869 Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 13 402 Mouth [of the cyprinid Cryptosmilia luna] very small, projectile; teeth in numerous packed series, simple, acute.
1876 Amer. Naturalist 10 7 The toad has a projectile tongue with a glutinous tip.
1989 Jrnl. Exper. Zool. 252 25 Tongue protraction is significantly faster in salamanders with projectile tongues than those with protrusible tongues.
2004 Biol. Bull. 207 77 (title) The projectile tooth of a fish-hunting cone snail.
5. Literary Criticism. Of an adjective: conveying the author's view of a subject, rather than an objective description.
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the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > adjective > [adjective] > other specific types of adjective
qualitative1872
definite1874
heterological1926
projectile1929
classifying1952
1929 I. A. Richards Pract. Crit. 357 Aesthetic or ‘projectile’ adjectives..raise several extraordinarily interesting questions... In so far as they register the projection of a feeling into an object they carry a double function.
1949 C. Brooks & R. P. Warren Mod. Rhetoric x. 351 What I. A. Richards calls ‘projectile’ adjectives: that is, adjectives which function, not so much to give an objective description, as to express the writer's or speaker's feelings... The ‘miserable wretch’ may actually be smiling happily. The woman who has just been called ‘a great little wife’ may be large or small.
1990 Sunday Times (Nexis) 10 June Projectile adjectives all over the page.
Compounds
C1. General attributive and objective.
projectile maker n.
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1902 Times 21 Apr. 12 The greatly superior resisting power of plates of this description naturally set the projectile makers a harder task.
1935 Amer. Anthropologist 37 432 The Woodland projectile-maker frequently turned out beautiful forms.
2000 Pittsburgh (Pa.) Post-Gaz. (Nexis) 8 Oct. d22 Mohr..invited a sales representative of a commercial projectile maker to enlighten the Commission on the merits..of his company's products.
projectile-throwing adj.
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1898 Decatur (Illinois) Daily Republican 9 May 4/1 That division will probably be strong enough to wipe out two such armadas as the one from the Cape Verdes, considering tonnage, calibre of armament, and projectile throwing capacity of the same.
1907 R. Payne-Gallwey (title) A Summary of the History, Construction and Effects in Warfare of the Projectile-Throwing Engines of the Ancients.
2004 Tucson (Arizona) Citizen 1 July 7 l It took several centuries before..a projectile-throwing machine that could be driven by chemical energy [sc. gunpowder] was invented.
projectile trade n.
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1899 Daily News 15 May 5/4 A welcome stimulus to the projectile trade.
C2. † projectile anchor n. Obsolete a collapsible anchor designed to be shot out of a tube, used esp. in lifesaving.
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1869 Times 22 July 5 A series of interesting experiments were made..with Rogers' projectile anchor and life-saving apparatus.
1883 Great Internat. Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 42 Model Carts, Mortars, Projectile Anchors,..Signal Gun and Rocket Signals.
projectile point n. †(a) a point of departure, a starting point (obsolete rare); (b) Archaeology a piece of pointed stone (or occasionally bone or metal) used as a spearhead or arrowhead.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > arrow > [noun] > head of arrow > prehistoric arrow-head
elf-arrow1590
arrowhead?1661
fairy dart1782
fairy stone1791
flint-head1796
projectile point1847
leaf arrowhead1878
fairy arrow1903
1847 Knickerbocker 29 541 From the projectile point of man's transitory career to the mouldering return of his constituent elements beneath the silent sod.
1891 Amer. Anthropologist 4 51 Obsidian and other easily flaked stones were broken into masses..for knives and projectile points.
1998 New Scientist (Nexis) 17 Oct. 2424 A stone projectile point was found embedded between the ribs of a bison that had become extinct at the end of the last ice age.
projectile theory n. a theory of the motion of projectiles; (History of Science) the corpuscular theory of light.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > [noun] > science of > emission theory
corpuscular theory1833
projectile theory1854
emission theory1880
1854 B. Powell Pereira's Lect. Polarized Light (ed. 2) 6 The Newtonian hypothesis, or the projectile or emission theory, was started when our knowledge of the facts was but in its infancy.
1941 Child Developm. 12 286 The ‘projectile theory’ was devised... The theory proposes that a muscular twitch sets the leg in motion so that it follows the path of a projectile through the air.
1953 Isis 44 284/1 Since they [sc. cannons] were too inaccurate to be practically useful beyond point-blank range, a perfected projectile-theory was of little concern to military leaders.
1986 Eng. Hist. Rev. 101 1003 The projectile theory [of light] completely dominated leading educational institutions in the eighteenth century.
Derivatives
proˈjectilist n. †(a) an expert in the motion of projectiles (obsolete); (b) History of Science a proponent of the projectile theory of light.
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society > armed hostility > warrior > armed man > one who studies or experiments with weapons > [noun]
artillerista1751
projectilist1852
ballistician1907
missile man1951
missileer1960
1852 P. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 338 With gunmakers, projectilists, general officers, Ordnance authorities.
1985 Isis 76 246/2 William Rowan Hamilton needs to be categorized as a projectilist (perhaps even a corpuscularist) because of his connection with the use of Fermat's principle.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.adj.1654