1570s, from Middle French catapulte and directly from Latin catapulta "war machine for throwing," from Greek katapeltes, from kata "against" (see cata-) + base of pallein "to [..]

1848, "to throw with a catapult," from catapult (n.). Intransitive sense by 1928. Related: Catapulted; catapulting.

a Y-shaped stick with elastic attached, used for shooting stones

A class of siege engines

Stone-throwing engine, usually employing torsion.    (Gies, Joseph and Francis. Life in a Medieval Castle, 225)

(n) a plaything consisting of a Y-shaped stick with elastic between the arms; used to propel small stones(n) a device that launches aircraft from a warship(n) an engine that provided medieval artiller [..]

  Shipboard mechanism for launching aircraft.    

In the Medieval times, when the trebuchet was introduced a relatively short time before the advent of gunpowder, the catapult became basically obsolete. Cannons soon replaced catapults as the standard siege weapon in Europe in the 14th century. During this period, catapults and related siege machines were the first weapons used for biological warfa [..]

An enormous siege engine designed to throw projectiles at a castle. Crossbow:

Operational code name for the destruction of the French Fleet by the British in North Africa, July 1940