A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like

assembly called a prod, mounted horizontally on a main frame called a tiller, which is hand-
held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long gun. Crossbows shoot arrow-like projectiles
called bolts or quarrels. A person who shoots crossbow is called a crossbowman or an
arbalist (after the arbalest, a European crossbow variant used during the 12th century).

Crossbows and bows use the same launch principle, but an archer using a longbow must
maintain its draw by pitching the bowstring with fingers, pulling it back with arm and back
muscles, and then holding that form while aiming, which demands significant physical strength.
A crossbow has a locking mechanism to maintain the draw, limiting the shooter’s exertion to
pulling the string into the lock and then releasing the shot by depressing a trigger. This enables a
crossbowman to handle more draw weight, and to hold it with significantly less physical strain,
thus potentially achieving better precision and enabling their effective use by less-skilled
personnel. Crossbows are usually drawn by direct pulling, but windlass-like mechanisms
requiring less force were sometimes used.

The earliest known crossbows were ”ade in the first millennium BC, as early as the 7 th century
BC in ancient China and as early as the 1st century AD in Greece (as the gastraphetes).
Crossbows brought about a major shift in the role of projectile weaponry in wars, such as during
Qin’s unification wars and later the Han campaigns against northern nomads and western states.
The medieval European crossbow was called by many names, including “crossbow” itself; most
of these names derived from the word ballista, an ancient Greek torsion siege engine similar in
appearance but different in design principle.

In modern times, firearms have largely supplanted bows and crossbows as weapons of war, but
crossbows remain widely used for competitive shooting sports and hunting, and for relatively
silent shooting.