trebuchet

Etymology

This word traces back to Old French trebuchet, also spelled trebuket among other forms (modern French trébuchet), which came from trebuchier (“to overthrow, topple”), itself formed from tres- and *buchier. That in turn goes back to Old French buc (“trunk of the body”), from Old Frankish *būk (“belly, trunk, torso”), from Proto-Germanic *būkaz (“belly, abdomen, trunk”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰōw- (“to blow, swell”). It is cognate with Old High German būh (“belly”) and Old English būc (“belly, trunk”). See also bouk.