Vireton

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A short, heavy crossbow bolt fitted with spiral vanes that make it spin in flight for greater accuracy
2. The stubby projectile fired from a crossbow, typically winged with fins that give it a rotating motion
3. A compact arrow-like missile for a crossbow, featuring twisted feathers or vanes that cause it to spin

Etymology: A vireton was a short crossbow bolt, and the name comes to English from French, where it is the diminutive of "vire," a word for a crossbow bolt or quarrel. The French form carries the suffix "-eton," which shrinks a noun into a smaller version of itself, so the word literally means a little vire. English borrowed it for the small missile fired from crossbows, a weapon whose compact, heavy projectile made it distinct from the longer bolts used in other contexts. The word is simple in structure: a base noun plus a diminutive ending. Its interest lies in the pairing, since the diminutive marks it as the smaller relative of the larger crossbow projectile it was modelled on.

Synonyms: quarrel, bolt