Etymologically
Log in

gunshot

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the English word gunshot

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
c. 1421 John Lydgate, Siege of Thebes (manuscript before 1450)
Ultimate origins
Old Norse GunnhildrOld English scot
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English gun
English gunshot
From the same root
English shotgun ← gun

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈɡʌn.ʃɒt/[1]
  • US: /ˈɡʌn.ʃɑt/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English gun + shot.[2][3][4] Merriam-Webster gives the Middle English form as gonneshot, from gonne or gunne, a gun, and shot.[5][6] The OED compares the older gunstone for the sense "projectiles" and bowshot for "range of a gun".[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The firing of a gun or guns; gunfire: in John Lydgate's Siege of Thebes (perhaps written about 1421, in a manuscript from before 1450),[2] in the early 15th century in Etymonline.[3] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1375–1425.[4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, gunfire in general, was obsolete by the mid-17th century.[2] From 1497 it meant the projectiles discharged from a gun or cannon, later especially small shot for handheld firearms.[2] From 1532, in Thomas More, it meant the distance a shot travels, used as a rough measure of distance and often in out of gunshot;[2][3] the OED compares the Latin and Greek phrases for "beyond the range of a missile".[2] This range sense was soon used figuratively for the reach of an influence (1556).[2] An individual shot, and the sound it makes, is recorded from 1553.[2] Johnson (1755) defined the noun as "the reach or range of a gun" and also gave it as an adjective, "made by the shot of a gun", quoting gunshot wounds from Wiseman's surgery.[7] In heraldry a gunshot is a black roundel standing for a cannonball (about 1828).[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1421 – the firing of guns, gunfire (obsolete by 1658).[2]
  • 1497 – projectiles fired from a gun.[2]
  • 1532 – the range of a gun.[2][3]
  • 1551 – in figurative use, of something harmful or of the start of a conflict.[2]
  • 1553 – a single shot from a gun, or its sound.[2]
  • 1556 – figuratively, the reach or sphere of influence of something.[2]
  • 1663 – a firearm, a pistol (obsolete).[2]
  • 1755 – Johnson records the adjectival use, as in gunshot wounds.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A shot fired from a gun, or the sound of one: A single gunshot echoed across the valley.[8][5][2]
  2. Shot or projectiles fired from a gun: a sail torn by gunshot.[5][9][2]
  3. The firing of a gun: The neighbours were woken by gunshots.[8][5][9]
  4. The range of a gun: The ducks stayed just out of gunshot.[8][5][9][2][7]
  5. Used before another noun, of things caused by a shot from a gun: gunshot wounds.[8][7]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t 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 Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ 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 Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  8. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Cite this entry

“Gunshot.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/gunshot. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·