Why is a battery called a battery?

[dontwalkhand]

Why is the battery (for example, the one in my MacBook) called a battery to begin with?

I know a battery in police talk means you hit some one, and this term is older than the electrical counterpart. Does it do something to batter power into the device?

Sorry if this seems a little childish, this just came to my mind when my friends were making fun of the fact one can "commit battery with batteries"

 

[greg555]

Wikipedia says "The name "battery" was coined by Benjamin Franklin for an arrangement of multiple Leyden jars (an early type of capacitor) after a battery of cannon.[1] Strictly, a battery is a collection of two or more cells, but in popular usage battery often refers to a single electrical cell.[2]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_(electricity)

For whatever that is worth.

Greg