Howitzer groups called batteries. The English word ""howitzer"" comes from the Czech word ""houfnice"", from "houf", "crowd", and "houf" is in turn a borrowing from the Middle High German word "Hūfe" or "Houfe" (modern German "Haufen"), meaning "heap". "Haufen", sometimes in the compound "Gewalthaufen", also designated a pike square formation in German. In the Hussite Wars of the 1420s and 1430s, the Czechs used short barreled ""houfnice"" cannons to fire at short distances into crowds of infantry, or into charging heavy cavalry, to make horses shy away. The word was rendered into German as "aufeniz" in the earliest attested use in
Arata (name) Arata (name) Arata is both a Japanese and Italian surname, and a masculine Japanese given name. As an Italian surname, it means "plow", while in Japanese, its meaning depends on the kanji used to write it. In Japanese, Arata is typically written using kanji meaning "uncultivated field" () or "new field" (), though dozens of other ways of writing it also exist. People with these surnames include: Arata is also an Italian surname, from a southern Italian word for "plow". People with this surname include: As a given name, Arata is typically written using a kanji meaning "new" (), though