onagers

Noun

onager (plural onagers or onagri)

1. The Asiatic wild ass or hemione (Equus hemionus), an animal of the horse family native to Asia; specifically, the Persian onager, Persian wild ass, or Persian zebra (Equus hemionus onager).
   • [I]f the czigithai is not the ſame with the zebra, it may be the Aſiatic animal called onager or wild aſs. The onager ſhould not be confounded with the zebra; but I am uncertain whether the ſame remark is applicable to the onager and czigithai; for, from comparing the relations of travellers, it...1785, Count de Buffon [i.e., Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon], “The Zebra. [Supplement.]”, in William Smellie, transl., Natural History, General and Particular, … Translated into English. […]...

   Synonyms:

   hemionus

2. (historical) A military engine acting like a sling which threw stones from a bag or wooden bucket powered by the torsion from a bundle of ropes or sinews operated by machinery; a torsion catapult.
   • The onager, meaning "wild ass," derived its name from its powerful recoil, or kick, upon discharge; […] In addition, although Josephus described an onager in action hurling a 100-pound stone over 400 yards, most onagri achieved a shorter range than the ballista, thus exposing their crews to enemy...2007, Jeff Kinard, “Ancient and Medieval Artillery”, in Artillery: An Illustrated History of Its Impact (Weapons and Warfare Series), Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 17