gunner

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English gonner, also gunner,^[2][3] formed from Middle English gonne (“gun”) + -er,^[2][3][4][5] later partly also from the verb gun.^[4] The OED compares Anglo-Norman gonner (before 1407, rare, apparently from English) and Medieval Latin gunnarius (from about 1365 in British sources),^[4][6] and the MED compares the Latin word too.^[2] The OED also notes the surnames “le Gunnur” (1238–9) and “le gonner” (1285): if they show this word, it was current long before gunpowder was widely used in Europe, but similar names may come from a Scandinavian woman's name, “Gunnor”.^[4] The noun itself is apparently from the woman's name “Gunilda”, from Old Norse Gunnhildr.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who operates a gun: 1347, in the ordinances of the royal household.^[4] Etymonline dates the word to the mid 14th century, when a gonner could work a cannon, a catapult or a mangonel,^[5] and the MED also records it for a man who operated a siege engine.^[2]

Semantic evolution

As guns developed, the word came to mean, from the 16th century on, chiefly someone who fires a cannon or other artillery piece.^[4] At sea the gunner was from 1495 a warrant officer in charge of a ship's guns and ammunition, now a historical post,^[4][7] and in the British Army a gunner is an artilleryman, especially a private.^[7][6] From 1463 the word also meant a gunmaker, a sense that later survived mainly in northern Irish English.^[4][2] A hunter with a gun was a gunner from 1707,^[4] and in Scottish, Irish and English dialects it was used for a marksman or for someone who lived by shooting wildfowl.^[8] The 20th century added the gunner of an aircraft crew (1914) and, in American sports slang, a pitcher or player with a strong throwing arm (1906) and a basketball player who shoots often (1939).^[4] Johnson (1755) defined it as the man who manages the artillery in a ship.^[9] In 18th-century slang a gunner was someone who spread false stories to do harm,^[4][10] and later slang used it for a one-eyed person and a thief.^[10]

Timeline

• 1347 – a person who operates a gun.^[4]
• 1463 – a gunmaker, a gunsmith.^[4]
• 1495 – a naval warrant officer in charge of a ship's guns.^[4]
• 1707 – a person who hunts with a gun.^[4]
• 1709 – in slang, a teller of malicious untrue stories (obsolete).^[4][10]
• 1829 – with a number, a ship armed with that many guns.^[4]
• 1832 – in Irish English, a sea bream.^[4]
• 1906 – in baseball slang, a pitcher.^[4]
• 1914 – a member of an aircraft crew who operates a gun.^[4]
• 1939 – in basketball, a player who shoots often.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A member of the armed forces who operates a gun, especially artillery or a large mounted weapon.^[7][3][4]
2. In the British Army, an artilleryman, especially a private.^[7][6]
3. A member of an aircraft crew who operates a gun: The tail gunner watched the clouds behind the bomber.^[4]
4. (historical) In a navy, a warrant officer in charge of the guns, gun crews and ammunition.^[7][4]
5. A person who hunts game with a gun.^[7][3][4]
6. (slang) In sports, a player with a strong throwing arm, or a basketball player who shoots at the basket often.^[4]

Word family

• gunnership

Related words

• gun
• gunnery
• gunsmith

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ 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)
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com