the.com/missile
a flying argument that ends conversations and occasionally civilizations
means a projectile or self-propelled weapon designed to be thrown, fired, or launched at a target, often guided over long distances.
from From Latin missilis, 'that which can be thrown,' from mittere, 'to send' or 'to let go' — the same restless root that gives us mission, dismiss, and emit. So a missile is, quite literally, a thing sent: the verb 'to send' hardened into a weapon. It entered English in the 1600s meaning any thrown thing — a stone, a dart — and only in the 20th century did it acquire its sleeker, more catastrophic modern sense.
- latin root
- missile means simply a thing thrown
- top speed
- hypersonic models exceed five times sound speed
- guidance
- some lock onto heat from your engine
- cold war stockpile
- global arsenals once topped seventy thousand warheads
- smallest kin
- javelin missiles fit on one soldier's shoulder
v-2 rocket — nazi germany's ballistic missile used against britain in 1944-1945, precursor to cold war programs
minuteman icbm — us intercontinental ballistic missile deployed since 1962, still in active service with 400+ units
brahmos — india-russia joint supersonic cruise missile, world's fastest at mach 2.8-3, inducted 2005
tomahawk cruise missile — us navy weapon used in gulf war 1991 and numerous conflicts, precision-guided range 1000+ km