musket

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English

 musket on Wikipedia
Muskets and bayonets.

Alternative forms

Etymology

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”)), from Middle French mousquet, from Old Italian moschetto (a diminutive of mosca (“fly”), from Latin musca) used to refer initially to a sparrowhawk (given its small size or speckled appearance) and then a crossbow arrow. The name was subsequently adopted for a heavier, shoulder-fired version of an arquebus, adhering to a pattern of naming firearms and cannons after birds of prey and similar creatures (compare falcon, falconet), a sense which was also borrowed into French and then (around 1580) into English. Cognate to Spanish mosquete, Portuguese mosquete. 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.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmʌskət/, /ˈmʌskɪt/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌskɪt

Noun

musket (plural muskets)

  1. A kind of firearm formerly carried by the infantry of an army, originally fired by means of a match, or matchlock, for which several mechanical appliances (including the flintlock, and finally the percussion lock) were successively substituted; ultimately superseded by the rifle.
    Soldier, soldier, won't you marry me, with your musket, fife and drum.
    Sam, Sam, pick up thy musket.
    • 1590, Roger Williams, A Briefe diſscourſe of Warre‎, London: Thomas Orwin, page 37:
      […] 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[ames] 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.
  2. (falconry) A male Eurasian sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus).

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

References

  1. ^ “musket, noun.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “musket”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 “musket”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 “musket”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Danish

Etymology

From French mousquet (“musket”).

Pronunciation

Noun

musket c (singular definite musketten, plural indefinite musketter)

  1. musket
  2. (dialectal) A firearm in general.

Inflection

Declension of musket
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative musket musketten musketter musketterne
genitive muskets muskettens musketters musketternes

Further reading

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mʏsˈkɛt/
  • Hyphenation: mus‧ket
  • Rhymes: -ɛt

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch musket.

Noun

musket n (plural musketten, diminutive musketje n)

  1. musket
  2. Obsolete spelling of mosket
Derived terms

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

musket n (uncountable)

  1. hundreds and thousands, nonpareils, tiny sprinkles
Derived terms

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Northern French mousket, borrowed itself from Italian moschetto.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmuskɛt/, /ˈmuskit/

Noun

musket (plural musketes)

  1. A sparrowhawk or musket.

Descendants

  • English: musket

References

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia