antimissile
|an-ti-mis-sile|
/ˌæn.tiˈmɪs.əl/
against missiles
Etymology
'antimissile' is a compound of the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek anti-, meaning 'against') and 'missile' (from Latin 'missilis', from 'mittere' meaning 'to send').
'missile' comes from Latin 'missilis' (able to be thrown or sent), entered English via Old French/Middle English; 'anti-' comes from Greek 'antí' via Latin as a productive prefix; the modern compound 'antimissile' developed in the 20th century with the rise of guided and ballistic missiles and corresponding defenses.
Originally the parts meant 'against' + 'something that is sent/thrown'; over time the compound came to mean specifically systems or weapons intended to counter missiles.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a weapon or system designed to intercept and destroy incoming missiles.
The country deployed a new antimissile to intercept incoming warheads.
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Adjective 1
designed to detect, track, or destroy enemy missiles (used to describe systems, defenses, or technologies).
They upgraded the city's antimissile defenses after the threat assessment.
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Last updated: 2025/09/04 05:16