Etymologically
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gunshot

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 11:57. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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