bombard
UK[bɒmˈbɑːd]US[bɑːmˈbɑːrd]
v
to attack a place by firing large guns at it or dropping bombs on it continuously
v
to direct so many questions, criticisms, or pieces of information at someone or something that it is difficult to deal with them all
Morpheme Breakdown
bomb
ard
bomb
ard
to repeatedly attack with
Etymology
the word 'bombard' has a martial lineage tracing back to the late latin 'bombus', meaning a deep, hollow sound, which is onomatopoeic in origin. this root passed into italian as 'bomba', referring to an explosive device, named for the booming noise it produces. in medieval french, the verb 'bombarder' was formed by adding the intensive verbal suffix '-arder' to 'bombe', creating a term for the action of attacking with bombards, an early type of cannon. the english word, adopted in the late 16th century, thus literally means 'to assail repeatedly with bombs or heavy artillery', a sense which later expanded metaphorically to describe any overwhelming barrage, such as of questions or information.
Analysis
Structure: bomb + ard
bomb (from latin bombus, meaning 'a booming sound', via italian bomba; functions as the core semantic root denoting an explosive projectile)
ard (a suffix of french origin, from the verb suffix -arder, indicating a habitual or intensive action; functions as a verbalizing suffix meaning 'to repeatedly attack with')
Examples
the enemy positions were bombarded all night before the ground assault.
celebrities are often bombarded with intrusive questions from the press.
the company's servers were bombarded with requests during the product launch.