Etymologically
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gun

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɡʌn/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English gunne, gonne,[2][3] apparently a shortening of the woman's name Gunilda,[2][3] found in Middle English gonnilde “cannon” and in an Anglo-Latin record of 1330 that calls a great engine of war at Windsor Castle Domina Gunilda, “Lady Gunilda”.[2][3] The name is borrowed from Old Norse Gunnhildr,[2][4] a compound of gunnr and hildr, both meaning “war, battle”;[2][5][6] gunnr is cognate with Old English gūþ and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- (“to strike, kill”).[2][3] Giving women's names to weapons is common: Mons Meg, Brown Bess and Big Bertha are examples.[7][2] Etymonline also considers a direct borrowing of Old Norse gunnr “battle”, or an influence of Old French engon, a dialect form of engin “engine”.[2] The verb is from the noun.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An engine of war throwing rocks, arrows or other missiles: probably before 1300, in Kyng Alisaunder,[3] or the mid-14th century;[2] the OED's first example is from 1339.[8]

Semantic evolution

The meaning grew with the technology, from cannons to the portable firearms that developed in the 15th century;[2][5] the OED records a portable gun, first called a hand-gun, from 1409.[8] The word was applied to pistols and revolvers from 1744, first in American English.[2][8] In modern military use gun is restricted to cannons, especially long ones with high velocity and a flat trajectory.[2][9] The verb, “to shoot with a gun”, is from about 1622,[4][3] and gun for, to go after with determination, came from it.[8][9] “To accelerate an engine” is from 1930, from the earlier phrase give her the gun (1917), apparently pilots' jargon from the First World War.[2] Stick to one's guns comes from the battlefield, where it meant staying at one's post under bombardment.[7] Jump the gun is from 1912, in American English,[2] after the starting pistol of athletics, called the gun from 1900.[8]

Timeline

  • before 1300 – an engine of war.[3]
  • 1339 – a cannon.[8]
  • 1409 – a portable firearm.[8]
  • c. 1622 – verb, to shoot with a gun.[4][3]
  • 1744 – a pistol or revolver.[2][8]
  • 1858 – a thief, rascal.[2]
  • 1900 – a starting pistol.[8]
  • 1912 – jump the gun.[2]
  • 1930 – verb, to accelerate an engine.[2][8]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A weapon with a metal tube from which a projectile is fired at high speed, especially a portable firearm such as a rifle or pistol.
  2. A cannon with a long barrel and a flat trajectory.
  3. A device that discharges something through a tube: a staple gun.
  4. The firing of a gun as a salute or signal, especially the signal to start a race.
  5. A person armed with a gun; a gunman or hunter.

Verb

  1. To shoot (a person), often with down.
  2. To open the throttle of (an engine) so as to accelerate.
  3. To hunt with a gun.
  4. gun for: To pursue or aim at with determination.

Word family

  • gunned
  • gunless
  • outgun
  • gun room
  • gunner
  • gunpowder
  • gunwale
  • bane
  • shotgun
  • handgun

Usage notes

Gun is also an old past tense of the verb gin, “to begin”.[8] In Pembrokeshire dialect to gun was to watch or spy.[10]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)