English

Noun

polyspaston ‎(plural polyspastons)

1. (historical) A hoisting-tackle with many pulleys.

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πολύσπαστον ‎(polúspaston, “compound pulley”)

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /po.lysˈpas.ton/, [pɔ.lʏsˈpas.tõ]

Noun

polyspaston n ‎(genitive polyspastī); second declension

1. A hoisting-tackle with many pulleys.
   • c. 15 BCE, Vitruvius, De architectura 10.5

     Hoc genus machinae polyspaston appellatur, quod multis orbiculorum circumitionibus et facilitatem summam praestat et celeritatem.

2. accusative singular of polyspaston
3. vocative singular of polyspaston

Inflection

Second declension, Greek type.

Related terms

• pentaspaston

Descendants

• English: polyspast
• French: polyspaste
• Spanish: polispasto

References

• polyspaston in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “polyspaston”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• Liddell & Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon