Jaculum

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A slender, pointed dart used historically in various forms of combat or as a projectile
2. a form of weaponry that is designed for throwing at a target
3. an implement once utilized in military practices for distance attacks against opponents

Etymology: Latin "jaculum" meant a light javelin or dart, the kind of thrown weapon a Roman soldier could hurl before closing with an enemy. The word comes from "jacere," "to throw," a verb that also gave Latin its "jactus" (a throw) and that English has inherited in words such as "eject," "dejected" and "adjacent," where the underlying idea of something cast or thrown survives. A "jaculum" was often a relatively small missile, thrown by hand and sometimes with the help of a cord or strap to increase its range. English borrowed the word in its Latin form in the sense of a dart or javelin, and it survives mostly in scholarly and historical writing rather than everyday speech. Its interest lies in how closely it tracks the verb it came from: the noun is simply the thing that is thrown, named for the action itself.

Synonyms: javelin, dart, spear, missile, projectile