arbalest means A steel crossbow. It carries an Arena rating of 1530, earned across 7 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, arbalest ranks #51 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #404 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #918 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #1,173 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words.
arbalest is pronounced /ˈɑːbəlɪst/.
Why “arbalest” is a great word
A powerful, steel-bowed crossbow of the High Middle Ages, or the soldier who wielded it. Its name descends from the Late Latin *arcuballista*, a compound of *arcus* (“bow”) and *ballista* (“catapult, missile-throwing engine”), which traveled through Old French (*arbaleste*) to become the Middle English *arblast*. Unlike the general “crossbow,” which could be of simple wood, or the “longbow,” which demanded a lifetime of strength and art, the arbalest was a machine of cold, impersonal force, wound with cranequin or lever. It is the grim *click-clack-whirr* of the winding mechanism, the glint of polished steel in a dank castle yard, and the dull, fatal *thump* of a bolt striking plate armor at a hundred paces—the moment when the armored knight’s supremacy began its slow, creaking descent into obsolescence.
Etymology
From Middle English arblast, from Old French arbaleste (modern arbalète), from Late Latin arcuballista, from Latin arcus + ballista.
noun
- A steel crossbow.
- A crossbowman who uses an arbalest.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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