onager

[on-uh-jer]

noun, plural on·a·gri [on-uh-grahy] /ˈɒn əˌgraɪ/, on·a·gers.

a wild ass, Equus hemionus, of southwestern Asia.

an ancient and medieval military catapult for throwing stones.

Origin of onager

1300–50; Middle English < Late Latin: machine for throwing projectiles, Latin onager, onagrus wild ass < Greek ónagros (in both senses), alteration of ónos ágrios ass of the fields, wild ass (see acre)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for onager

Historical Examples of onager

It has sometimes occurred to me that perhaps the skin was that of Job's onager.
A History of the French Novel, Vol. 2
George Saintsbury
This is supposed to be of the same pattern which is called an "Onager" in the Latin books.
Stories of Invention
Edward E. Hale
We then loaded the onager with the acorns, and moved homeward.
The Swiss Family Robinson
Johann David Wyss
The skin that you have laid before me is the skin of an onager.
The Magic Skin
Honore de Balzac
The wild ass and onager roamed in small herds between the Balikh and the Tigris.
History Of Egypt, Chalda, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 3 (of 12)
G. Maspero

British Dictionary definitions for onager

onager

noun plural -gri (-ˌɡraɪ) or -gers

a Persian variety of the wild ass, Equus hemionusCompare kiang

an ancient war engine for hurling stones

Word Origin for onager

C14: from Late Latin: military engine for stone throwing, from Latin: wild ass, from Greek onagros, from onos ass + agros field

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for onager

Asiatic wild ass, mid-14c., from Latin onager, from Greek onagros, from onos "ass" (related to Latin asinus, but the ultimate source is unknown) + agrios "wild," literally "living in the fields," from agros "field" (see acre).