Editing Missile (section)

== Terminology ==
Missile is derived from [[Latin]] "missilis" meaning "that may be thrown".<ref name="OE">{{cite web|url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/missile_n?tab=factsheet#36366705|title=Missile, etymology|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|access-date=1 May 2025}}</ref><ref name="CD">{{cite web|title=Century Dictionary Online Lookup for 'missile'|url=https://server-66-113-234-189.da.direct/century-dictionary.com/html/wnph-chw.php?query=missile&type=dicts|access-date=4 May 2025|work=[[Century Dictionary]]}}</ref> The first use of the word was in the early 1600s by [[Philemon Holland]].<ref name="OE"/> Historically, 'missile' referred to any [[projectile]] that is capable of being thrown or a weapon that is shot or propelled towards a target.<ref name="CD"/><ref name="OED missile">{{Cite book|title=OED Online|date=2021|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|url=https://www.oed.com|access-date=17 March 2021|chapter=missile, n. and adj.|quote=a. An object propelled (either by hand or mechanically) as a weapon at a target<br/>b. Military. A long-distance weapon that is self-propelled, and directed either by remote control or automatically, during part or all of its course.}}</ref> Later military definition refers to a missile as an airborne ranged weapon capable of [[propulsion|self-propelled flight]] [[missile guidance|guided]] towards a specific target.<ref name="OED missile"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Missile|url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/missile |access-date=4 May 2025|work=[[Oxford Dictionary]]}}</ref> Any unguided [[jet propulsion|jet]] or [[rocket]]-propelled weapons are generally described as [[rocket artillery]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/rocket_1?q=rocket|title=Rocket|access-date=4 May 2025|work=[[Oxford Dictionary]]}}</ref> and airborne [[explosive devices]] without propulsion are referred to as [[Shell (projectile)|shells]] if fired by an [[artillery piece]] and [[bombs]] if dropped by a vehicle such as an [[aircraft]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Shell|url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/shell_1?q=shell|access-date=4 May 2025|work=[[Oxford Dictionary]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Bomb|url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/bomb_1?q=bomb|access-date=4 May 2025|work=[[Oxford Dictionary]]}}</ref>