Pellet

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈpɛl.ɪt/

Definitions

1. A tiny, usually spherical unit made by compressing materials, commonly used in feeding animals or as projectiles in shooting applications
2. A small, dense chunk formed from a variety of substances, frequently employed in food production or weaponry
3. A small, compact piece created through the compression of various materials, often utilized in animal feed or as ammunition for firearms

Etymology: The small, hard lump at the centre of this word comes from a Latin ball. Classical Latin "pila" meant a ball, and speakers in the late Roman period formed a diminutive, a little ball, which appears in the reconstructed "pilotta". Old French turned that into "pelote", a small ball, and Middle English borrowed it as "pelote" and "pelet" before the modern form settled. The word has a close cousin in "pelota", the Spanish word for a ball, which took the same Latin route through a different language. Both descend from the same root, so English gained the word from French while Spanish kept its own version. Those early English uses stayed close to the original sense of a little ball, and the later sense of a small compressed mass came from that same idea of something rounded and packed tight.

Synonyms: grain, ball, bead