The word 'ballistic' entered English in the eighteenth century, derived from 'ballista' (a large ancient siege engine that hurled stones and heavy bolts), which came from Latin 'ballista,' from Greek 'ballístēs' (one who throws), from the verb 'bállein' (to throw). The English suffix '-ic' was added to form the adjective. The PIE root is *gʷelh₁- (to throw), one of the most productive verb roots to enter English through Greek.
The Greek verb 'bállein' generated an exceptionally large family of English words, most of them disguised by their compound prefixes. 'Ballistic' itself is the most transparent descendant. 'Ball' (a thrown or spherical object) may derive from the same root, though some etymologists connect it to Old Norse 'böllr' from a different source. 'Ballet' comes from Italian 'balletto,' diminutive of 'ballo' (a dance), from Late Latin 'ballāre' (to dance), possibly from Greek 'ballízein' (to dance, to jump about), from 'bállein.' 'Balloon' follows the same path through Italian.
The prefix-compounds are where the root becomes truly prolific. 'Hyperbole' (throwing beyond — exaggeration). 'Parable' (throwing beside — a comparison, a story placed alongside reality for illumination). 'Symbol' (throwing together — a sign that represents something by association). 'Problem' (throwing before — an obstacle set before you, something thrown in your path). 'Metabolism' (throwing across — a change, a transformation of substances). 'Diabolical' (from Greek
The science of ballistics — the study of projectile motion — was formalized in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries by Niccolò Tartaglia and Galileo Galilei. Galileo demonstrated that a projectile follows a parabolic trajectory (itself named from 'bállein'), connecting two of the root's descendants in a single physical phenomenon. Modern ballistics divides into internal ballistics (what happens inside the gun), external ballistics (the projectile's flight), and terminal ballistics (what happens when the projectile hits).
A 'ballistic missile' is one that is guided during its initial powered phase but follows a free-falling ballistic trajectory for most of its flight — meaning it is literally 'thrown' by its rocket engine and then released to gravity and momentum. Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), developed during the Cold War, became the ultimate weapon of nuclear deterrence. The phrase 'ballistic missile' was in everyday vocabulary by the 1960s.
The slang expression 'to go ballistic' (to become extremely angry, to lose control) appeared in the 1980s, directly inspired by the terrifying image of a ballistic missile — fast, powerful, uncontrolled after launch, and destructive on impact. The metaphor transfers the missile's unguided fury to a person's uncontrolled rage. It has become one of English's most vivid informal expressions for anger, carrying within it the echoes of Cold War anxiety and, beneath that, the ancient Greek concept of throwing.