different between springal vs springald

English

Noun

springal (plural springals)

1. (archaic) Alternative form of springald (“a youth”)
2. Obsolete form of springald (“military engine for launching stones and arrows”).
   • 1980, Chris Cook, John Stevenson, Weapons of War

     Various ‘artillery’ machines were employed. These were similar to machines known in antiquity to Rome and Byzantium. One such machine, particularly useful against wooden castles and on ships, was the springal.

Anagrams

• Sparling, graplins, laspring, sparling

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?sp????ld/

Etymology 1

Apparently from spring, with an uncertain final element.

Alternative forms

• springal
• springold

Noun

springald (plural springalds)

1. (now rare, archaic) A youth; a young man, a stripling.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, V.10:

     There came two Springals of full tender yeares, / Farre thence from forrein land where they did dwell […].

   • 1819, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe:

     this same springald, who conceals his name, and despises our proffered hospitality, hath already gained one prize, and may now afford to let others have their turn.

Etymology 2

Old French espringale; of Germanic origin, akin to English spring.

Alternative forms

• espringal
• springal (obsolete)

Noun

springald (plural springalds)

1. (historical) An ancient military engine for launching stones and arrows by means of a spring.

   Coordinate terms: ballista, catapult

   • 2007, Kelly DeVries, Robert Douglas Smith, Medieval Weapons: An Illustrated History of Their Impact, ABC-CLIO (?ISBN), page 138:

     The springald is a somewhat more problematic weapon as it is completely unclear whether it was the same weapon as the Roman ballista which some historians believe never disappeared from the battlefield and remained in use throughout […]

   • 2010, Matt Landrus, Leonardo da Vinci’s Giant Crossbow, Springer Science & Business Media (?ISBN), page 54:

     Although generally more powerful than the great crossbow, the springald was not as versatile, since it could not be moved quickly during a siege, nor would it operate properly in wet conditions at sea.

Translations

Further reading

• springald on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Spradling, grid plans