gunman

Etymology

It is a compound from English gun + man.^[2][3][4] The OED compares the older names of soldiers by their weapon, pikeman, bowman and swordman.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A soldier armed with a gun rather than another weapon: 1590, in J. Thorie's translation of F. de Valdés, Sergeant Maior.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to the 1620s,^[3] Merriam-Webster to 1624^[5] and Dictionary.com to 1615–25.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In early use the word mostly named a member of a fighting force armed with a gun,^[2] and in early American English especially a Native American warrior with a gun.^[3] It then came to mean any man armed with or skilled at using a gun,^[2][5] and in American use a man noted for his speed and skill in gunfights,^[5][6] and a criminal who uses a gun, especially one hired to kill.^[5][6] Collins notes that the armed man is usually armed unlawfully.^[7] A rare 19th-century sense, a worker in a gun factory, is recorded from 1874.^[2]

Timeline

• 1590 – a soldier armed with a gun.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to the 1620s.^[3]
• 1624 – a man armed with or firing a gun.^[5]
• 1874 – a man who works in the making of guns (rare).^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A man armed with a gun, especially one who uses it to commit a crime: Police are searching for the gunman who held up the bank.^[7][5][2]
2. A hired killer who uses a gun.^[5][6]
3. A man noted for his speed or skill with a gun; a gunslinger.^[7][5][6]
4. A guard armed with a gun.^[5][6]
5. (US) A person who makes or repairs guns, or knows them well.^[7][2]

Word family

• gunmanship

Related words

• gunner

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
7. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins