Etymograph

English

arblast

Arblast comes from Old French arbaleste ‘arbalest’, from Late Latin arcuballista ‘crossbow or possibly some torsion-powered hand…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erkʷos ‘bow, arrow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂erkʷos1‘bow, arrow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*arkuos1‘bow’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEarcus2‘bow’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEarcuballista2‘crossbow or possibly some torsion-powered hand weapon’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400arbaleste2‘arbalest’
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150arblast2‘crossbow, arblast’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500arblast2
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1819arblast2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin arcus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English arblast
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1819, Walter Scott: “[…] Here be two arblasts, comrade, with windlaces and…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂erkʷosWiktionary, Latin arcus‘bow, arrow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*arkuosWiktionary, Latin arcus‘bow’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEarcusWiktionary, English arblast‘bow’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEarcuballistaWiktionary, English arblast‘crossbow or possibly some torsion-powered hand weapon’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400arbalesteWiktionary, English arblast‘arbalest’
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150arblastWiktionary, English arblast‘crossbow, arblast’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500arblastWiktionary, English arblast
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1819arblastWiktionary, English arblast. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1819, Walter Scott: “[…] Here be two arblasts, comrade, with windlaces and…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂erkʷos ‘bow, arrow’

archery, 7 more

through Proto-Italic *arkuos ‘bow’

archer, 8 more

through Latin arcus ‘bow’

arc, arch, arcade, arson, arco, arcuate, 11 more

Today it means

noun A wooden crossbow with a special drawing mechanism, used to fire bolts, stones, etc.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “arblast”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin arcus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂erkʷos / arblast

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