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WOOMERA (n. pl. -S)
Definition(s):
- (n.) a wooden device designed to increase the velocity with which a spear can be hurled, traditionally used by Australian aborigines
Useful information for game players:
- Front hooks: (none)
- Back hooks: -S
- Anagrams: (none)
- Longer extensions: (none)
- Wraparounds: (none)
- Other Spellings: WOMERA, WOMMERA
- Related Forms: (none)
Epilogue:
Also called a “throwing stick,” WOOMERA / WOMERA / WOMMERA derives from a word in an Australian aboriginal language of the Sydney area: wamara or wu-ma-ra, meaning “spear thrower.” The other well known Australian throwing stick, the BOOMERANG, also derives from the language of that region, as do the animal names WALLABY and WOMBAT.
Throwing sticks could be very effective in the hands of a skilled practitioner, especially prior to the introduction of firearms. One observer recounted how “with the aid of a favourite womerah, [the aborigine] could send a long spear, tipped with palm-wood, through a deal plank an inch thick a hundred yards away” (Scott, 1907). The Aztecs of Mexico used a similar device called an ATLATL (a word deriving from their native Nahuatl language) for hurling darts or small spears, and aboriginal people of the Arctic and of South America are known to have employed similar weapons as well.
This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter W
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