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cannon

Etymology and origin of the English word cannon

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1400
Borrowed from
Anglo-Norman canon
Ultimate origin
Latin (canna)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈkæn.ən/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English canon, borrowed from Anglo-Norman canon (“tube for projectiles”), Old French canon,[2][3][4] from Italian cannone (“large tube, barrel”), an augmentative of canna, tube,[2][3][5] from Latin canna, reed, tube (see cane).[2][3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A large mounted gun: about 1400 in Barnhart and Etymonline;[2][3] the OED's first quotation for a piece of ordnance is from 1525.[7]

Semantic evolution

The double -n- spelling, to distinguish the word from canon, began to appear by 1650 and was established about 1800.[2][3] A tube or bore (1588) and a smooth round bit for a horse (1596) are older senses.[7] Cannon fodder (1847) translates German Kanonenfutter;[3][5] compare Shakespeare's food for powder in Henry IV.[3] A pistol is American slang from 1901,[7] and a shell-firing gun in an aircraft from 1919.[7] In billiards a cannon, the American carom, is an alteration of carom (18th century).[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – a mounted gun.[2]
  • 1525 – a piece of ordnance.[7]
  • 1847 – cannon fodder.[3]
  • c. 1800 – the spelling cannon fixed.[3]
  • 1919 – an aircraft cannon.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A large mounted gun firing heavy projectiles, or an automatic gun of large calibre in an aircraft.
  2. (billiards) A shot in which the cue ball strikes two balls in succession; a carom.
  3. The loop at the top of a bell by which it hangs.
  4. The cannon bone of a horse's leg.

Verb

  1. To fire cannon; to bombard.
  2. To collide with, or to make a cannon in billiards.

Word family

  • cannonry
  • demi-cannon
  • cannonade
  • cannonball
  • cannoneer
  • cannon bone
  • cannon fodder
  • loose cannon

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Cannon.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/cannon. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·