musket

[ muhs-kit ]
/ ˈmʌs kɪt /

noun

a heavy, large-caliber smoothbore gun for infantry soldiers, introduced in the 16th century: the predecessor of the modern rifle.
the male sparrow hawk, Accipiter nisus.

Origin of musket

1580–90; < Middle French mousquet < Italian moschetto crossbow arrow, later musket, orig. kind of hawk, equivalent to mosch(a) fly (< Latin musca) + -etto -et

Example sentences from the Web for musket

British Dictionary definitions for musket

musket
/ (ˈmʌskɪt) /

noun

a long-barrelled muzzle-loading shoulder gun used between the 16th and 18th centuries by infantry soldiers

Word Origin for musket

C16: from French mousquet, from Italian moschetto arrow, earlier: sparrow hawk, from moscha a fly, from Latin musca