Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 11th Edition
PELLET
I. noun
Etymology: Middle English pelote, from Anglo-French, from Vulgar Latin *pilota, diminutive of Latin pila ball
Date: 14th century
1. a usually small rounded, spherical, or cylindrical body (as of food or medicine), a wad of indigestible material (as of bones and fur) regurgitated by a bird of prey, any of various projectiles fired from a weapon (as an air rifle), pelletal adjective
II. transitive verb
Date: 1597
pelletize , to strike with pellets