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catapult: catapult: [16] The first catapults were large military machines for hurling missiles at the enemy (originally darts, in contrast with the ballista, which discharged large rocks, but the distinction did not last); the schoolboy’s handheld catapult, consisting of a piece of elastic fixed in a Y-shaped frame, did not appear until the latter part of the 19th century. Etymologically, their name is a fairly straightforward description of what they do: it comes ultimately from Greek katapáltēs, which was formed from katá- ‘down’, hence ‘against’, and pállein ‘hurl’.
defunct: defunct: [16] The -funct in defunct is the same ultimately as that in function and perfunctory. It comes from the past participle of Latin fungī ‘perform, discharge’. In combination with the intensive prefix dē- this produced dēfunctus ‘discharged, finished’, hence ‘dead’, which was borrowed directly into English.
=> function, perfunctory
quite: quite: [14] Quite is essentially the same word as the adjective quit ‘free, absolved, discharged, cleared’ (which in Middle English commonly took the alternative form quite). It came to be used as an adverb meaning ‘thoroughly, clearly’. The weaker modern sense ‘fairly’ did not develop until as recently as the mid-19th century.
=> quit
discharge (v.): early 14c., "to exempt, exonerate, release," from Old French deschargier (12c., Modern French décharger) "to unload, discharge," from Late Latin discarricare, from dis- "do the opposite of" (see dis-) + carricare "load" (see charge (v.)).

Meaning "to unload, to free from" is late 14c. Of weapons, from 1550s. The electrical sense is first attested 1748. Meaning "to fulfill, to perform one's duties" is from c. 1400. Related: Discharged; discharging.
excrement (n.): 1530s, "waste discharged from the body," from Latin excrementum, from stem of excretus, past participle of excernere "to sift out, discharge," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + cernere "sift, separate" (see crisis). Originally any bodily secretion, especially from the bowels; exclusive sense of "feces" is since mid-18c. Related: Excremental; excrementitious.
go off (v.): 1570s, of firearms, etc., "explode, be discharged;" see go (v.) + off (adv.); meaning "depart" is c. 1600; that of "deteriorate in condition" is from 1690s; that of "reprimand" is from 1941 (originally with at, since c. 2000 more often with on).
grenade (n.): "small explosive shell," thrown rather than discharged from a cannon, 1590s, earlier "pomegranate" (1520s), from Middle French grenade "pomegranate" (16c.), earlier grenate (12c.), from Old French pomegrenate (see pomegranate). Form influenced by Spanish granada. So called because the many-seeded fruit suggested the powder-filled, fragmenting bomb, or from similarities of shape. See pomegranate. Much used late 17c., they went out of use 18c. but were revived 20c.
missile (n.): "thing thrown or discharged as a weapon," is 1650s, from missile (adj.), 1610s, "capable of being thrown," chiefly in phrase missile weapon, from French missile and directly from Latin missilis "that may be thrown or hurled" (also, in plural, as a noun, "weapons that can be thrown, darts, javelins"), from missus "a throwing, hurling," past participle of mittere "to send" (see mission). Sense of "self-propelled rocket or bomb" is first recorded 1738; the modern remote guidance projectile so called from 1945.
muster (v.): c. 1300, "to display, reveal, appear," from Old French mostrer "appear, show, reveal," also in a military sense (10c., Modern French montrer), from Latin monstrare "to show," from monstrum "omen, sign" (see monster). Meaning "to collect, assemble" is early 15c.; figurative use (of qualities, etc.) is from 1580s. To muster out "gather to be discharged from military service" is 1834, American English. To muster up in the figurative and transferred sense of "gather, summon, marshal" is from 1620s. Related: Mustered; mustering.
quit (adj.): c. 1200, "free, clear" (of debt, etc.), from Old French quite, quitte "free, clear, entire, at liberty; discharged; unmarried," from Medieval Latin quitus, quittus, from Latin quietus "free" (in Medieval Latin "free from war, debts, etc."), also "calm, resting" (see quiet (adj.)).
quit-rent (n.): early 15c., "rent paid by a tenant in exchange for being discharged from required service;" also, "nominal rent as acknowledgment of tenure," from quit (adj.) + rent (n.).
quits (adj.): "even" (with another), 1660s; earlier "discharged of a liability" (c. 1200), perhaps from Medieval Latin quittus (see quit (adj.)).
shot (n.): Old English scot, sceot "a shot, a shooting, an act of shooting; that which is discharged in shooting, what is shot forth; darting, rapid motion," from Proto-Germanic *skutan (cognates: Old Norse skutr, Old Frisian skete, Middle Dutch scote, German Schuß "a shot"), related to sceotan "to shoot" (see shoot (v.)).

Meaning "discharge of a bow, missile," also is from related Old English gesceot. Extended to other projectiles in Middle English, and to sports (hockey, basketball, etc.) 1868. Another original meaning, "payment" (perhaps literally "money thrown down") is preserved in scot-free. "Throwing down" might also have led to the meaning "a drink," first attested 1670s, the more precise meaning "small drink of straight liquor" by 1928 (shot glass by 1955). Camera view sense is from 1958. Sense of "hypodermic injection" first attested 1904; figurative phrase shot in the arm "stimulant" first recorded 1922. Meaning "try, attempt" is from 1756; sense of "remark meant to wound" is recorded from 1841. Meaning "an expert in shooting" is from 1780. To call the shots "control events, make decisions" is American English, 1922, perhaps from sport shooting. Shot in the dark "uninformed guess" is from 1885. Big shot "important person" is from 1861.
urethra (n.): "canal through which urine is discharged from the bladder," 1630s, from Late Latin urethra, from Greek ourethra "the passage for urine," coined by Hippocrates from ourein "to urinate," from ouron (see urine). Related: Urethral.
ostiole: "(In some small algae and fungi) a small pore through which spores are discharged", Mid 19th century: from Latin ostiolum, diminutive of ostium 'opening'.
disembogue: "(Of a river or stream) emerge or be discharged in quantity; pour out", Late 16th century: from Spanish desembocar, from des- (expressing reversal) + embocar 'run into a creek or strait' (based on boca 'mouth').
catamenia: "Blood and other matter discharged from the uterus at menstruation", Mid 18th century: Greek, neuter plural form of katamēnios 'monthly', from kata 'down' + mēn 'month': see -ia².
excreta: "Waste matter discharged from the body, especially faeces and urine", Mid 19th century: from Latin, 'things sifted out', neuter plural of excretus, past participle of excernere (see excrete).