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The Learning Kingdom's Cool Word of the Day for May 28, 1999
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caltrop [n. KAL-trup]
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There are several different kinds of plants called caltrop, all of
which have fruits with sharp, projecting spikes. A a caltrop can also
be a metal device with four sharp spikes arranged so that when it
lands on the ground, one of the spikes always points straight up.
The metal caltrops are nasty little military weapons, strewn behind
fleeing troops to interfere with pursuing horses or vehicles. The
spiny-fruited plants are almost equally nasty, including a star
thistle and the water caltrop, a water chestnut. The military device
was named after the plants.
The word comes from Middle English calketrappe, from Medieval Latin
calcatrippa (thistle; any plant that "catches the feet"). That word
was a compound of calcare (to tread on) and trappa (trap), a word of
Ancient Germanic origin that was also the root of Modern English trap.
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