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In the early era of firearms, cannons of lesser size such as the falconet were sometimes named for birds of prey. Following this pattern, Italians applied moschetto or moschetta, meaning "sparrow hawk," to a small-caliber piece of ordnance in the 16th century. Spaniards borrowed this word as mosquete, and the French as mosquet, but both applied it to a heavy shoulder firearm rather than a cannon; English musket was borrowed soon thereafter from French. The word musket was retained after the original matchlock firing mechanism was replaced by a wheel lock, and retained still after the wheel lock was replaced by the flintlock. As the practice of rifling firearms—incising the barrel with spiral grooves to improve the bullet's accuracy—became more common, the term musket gradually gave way to the newer word rifle in the 18th century.
Examples of musket in a Sentence
Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 29 Nov. 2024
The one fatality among the troops was a Union officer who was downed by a musket shot through the thigh, according to a Texas Historical Marker at the site.
—Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman, 12 Mar. 2024
Should that musket misfire, don’t look for the cleric.
—Rob Wieland, Forbes, 13 Sep. 2024
The town's population grew in the 1820s as a result of the lead mining boom, where the mine became one of the most productive in the region, manufacturing the musket balls used in the Civil War, according to the city's website.
—Alex Groth, Journal Sentinel, 3 Sep. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Musket.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/musket. Accessed 18 Dec. 2024.
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musket
noun
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