Meaning

adjective relating to or characteristic of the motion of objects moving under their own momentum and the force of gravity

originEtymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-der. Proto-Hellenic *gʷəlnō Ancient Greek βᾰ́λλω (bắllō) Ancient Greek βαλλίστρᾱ (ballístrā)der. Latin ballista Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic English ballistic From Latin ballista (“a military siege engine for throwing stones”) + -ic.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0