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First attested around 1210 as a surname, and later in the 1400s as a word for the sparrowhawk (Middle English forms: musket, muskett, muskete(“sparrow hawk”)),[1][2] from Middle Frenchmousquet, from Old Italianmoschetto (a diminutive of mosca(“fly”), from Latinmusca) used to refer initially to a sparrowhawk (given its small size or speckled appearance)[2] and then a crossbow arrow. The name was subsequently adopted for a heavier, shoulder-fired version of an arquebus, [2][3][4] adhering to a pattern of naming firearms and cannons after birds of prey and similar creatures (compare falcon, falconet),[2][4] a sense which was also borrowed into French and then (around 1580)[3] into English.[4] Cognate to Spanishmosquete, Portuguesemosquete.[4] Smoothbore firearms continued to be called muskets even as they switched from using matchlocks to flintlocks to percussion locks, but with the advent of rifled muskets, the word was finally displaced by rifle.[4]
[…] you may be assured, had they known the terrour of Muskets, Caliuers and Piſtols, they would haue vſed the leſſe Bowes, Speares and Bills; […]
1689, William Plunket, William III of England, “General Obſervations § IV”, in The General Exercise Ordered by His Highness the Prince of Orange, To be punctually obſerved of all the Infantry in Service of the States General of the United Provinces. , page 4:
The Souldier having his Musket ſhoulder'd, muſt ſtand ſtraight upon his Limbs, hold up his Head, and look always to the commanding Officer, […]
1869, J Fenimore Cooper, “Moral Tales and Sketches § Battle of Bunker Hill”, in H. A. Cleveland, editor, Golden Sheaves Gathered from the Fields of Ancient and Modern Literature: A Miscellany of Choice Reading for the Entertainment of the Old and the Young in Hours that Are Lonely and Weary, Zeigler, McCurdy & Co., page 24:
The whole of the tumultuous scene vanished from the senses of Lionel at the flash of the musket of this man, and he sunk beneath the feet of the combatants, insensible of further triumph, and of every danger.
1949, Albert Manucy, “The Era of Artillery § Rifling”, in Artillery Through the Ages A Short Illustrated History of Cannon, Emphasizing Types Used in America, Reprint 1985 edition, page 14:
Probably, rifling evolved from the early observation of the feathers on an arrow-and from the practical results of cutting channels in a musket, originally to reduce fouling, then because it was found to improve accuracy of the shot.