English
petrary
Petrary comes from Latin petra ‘stone’, from Ancient Greek πέτρα ‘rock’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘to go through, fare’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*per-1‘to go through, fare’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπέτρα2‘rock’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpetra3‘stone’
- Englishearliest quotation 1969petrary3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek πέτρα, which cites Beekes
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin petra
- 3 Wiktionary, English petrary
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1969, Robert Nye: “Their boats, loaded with six months’ provisions and a…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*per-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek πέτρα, which cites Beekes‘to go through, fare’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπέτραWiktionary, Latin petra‘rock’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpetraWiktionary, English petrary‘stone’
- Englishearliest quotation 1969petraryWiktionary, English petrary. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1969, Robert Nye: “Their boats, loaded with six months’ provisions and a…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘to go through, fare’
first, before, support, report, further, price, far, private, press, per, opportunity, pre, practice, prior, prime, appreciate, port, fear, prize, afford, pregnant, ford, primary, forth, precious, practical, privilege, interpretation, praise, par, porch, primitive, ferry, prix, pirate, parade, fare, pardon, privy, prism, 155 more
through Latin petra ‘stone’
Today it means
noun A weapon used to hurl stones
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “petrary”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek πέτρα, Latin petra. 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 *per- / petrary