onager
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onager
- /ˈɒnəd͡ʒə/ UK
- /-ɡə/ UK
- /ˈɑnəd͡ʒɚ/ US
- /ˈɔː-/ US
Where it comes from
From Middle English onager, onagir (“wild ass; military catapult”), from Anglo-Norman onager, Middle French onager, onagre, Old French onager, onagre (“wild ass; military catapult”) (modern French onagre), from Late Latin onager (“large siege engine”), Latin onager (“wild ass”), from Hellenistic Koine Koine Greek ὄναγρος (ónagros, “wild ass”), Medieval Medieval Greek ὄναγρος (ónagros, “large siege engine”), from ὄνος (ónos, “ass”) + ἄγριος (ágrios, “wild”) (from ᾰ̓γρός (ăgrós, “countryside; field”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- (“to drive”)) + -ῐος (-ĭos, suffix forming adjectives)).
The “military engine” sense alludes to the strong recoil of the engine, likened to an onager’s kick; see the 2007 quotation.
noun onagers · onagri
-
The Asiatic wild ass or hemione (Equus hemionus), an animal of the horse family native to Asia; specifically, the Persian onager, Persian wild ass, or Persian zebra (Equus hemionus onager).
[I]f the czigithai is not the ſame with the zebra, it may be the Aſiatic animal called onager or wild aſs. The onager ſhould not be confounded with the zebra; but I am uncertain whether the ſame remark is applicable to the onager and czigithai; for, from comparing the relations of travellers, it app
Similar: hemionus
- A military engine acting like a sling which threw stones from a bag or wooden bucket powered by the torsion from a bundle of ropes or sinews operated by machinery; a torsion catapult. The onager, meaning "wild ass," derived its name from its powerful recoil, or kick, upon discharge; […] In addition, although Josephus described an onager in action hurling a 100-pound stone over 400 yards, most onagri achieved a shorter range than the ballista, thus exposing their crews to enemy ar
Translations
Talk about this word "onager." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/onager. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. onager. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/onager "onager." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/onager.Cite this
@misc{onager_2026,
title = {onager},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/onager},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
