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pistolet

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Etymology and origin of the French word pistolet

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1546 a document cited by Quemada More words from the 16th century
Ultimate origin
Czech píšťala

Pronunciation

  • /pis.tɔ.lɛ/[1]

Forms

pistolet m (plural pistolets)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French pistole + -et, the diminutive suffix: this is the view of the TLFi, Rey, Bloch and Wartburg, the Petit Robert and the Grand Robert.[2][3][4][5][6][7][1] The base noun first meant a small arquebus (1544) and is from German Pistole, from Czech píšťala (“whistle, flute”).[3][4][1] In the 16th century the diminutive was more or less the equivalent of its base.[4]

An older explanation, which Littré accepted after the 16th-century writer Des Accords, traces the word to the Italian town of Pistoia: a short dagger made there was called pistoyer, then pistolier and finally by the present name, and the name passed to the small arquebuses when they were invented.[8] Littré compared Italian pistolese, a kind of hunting knife, but admitted that the derivation is irregular.[8] Bloch and Wartburg and the Grand Robert keep the Pistoia origin only for the dagger, which the Grand Robert and Rey record separately from 1565.[4][6][3][9]

The English word pistolet (1550) is from the French.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The GLLF finds it about 1534 in Bonaventure Des Périers for a small coin;[11] the TLFi's first record of the firearm is a document of 1546.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The coin sense was a joke: as the Spanish écus had been struck smaller than the French, they were called pistolets after the small gun, a joke that passed later to pistole.[3][4][8] That sense has disappeared, and the link with pistole is no longer felt.[3] In the 16th century the word meant chiefly a small arquebus;[4] since the late 19th century it has competed with revolver.[3]

The familiar sense “odd, disreputable person” dates from 1829 (drôle de pistolet).[2][3] From the shape of the weapon it named a support on a ship's poop (1831), a drawing template (1842) and a small round bread roll (1852), now mainly in Belgium; from its working, a hand-held paint sprayer (1924).[2][3] It was also used for a starter's gun (1870) and a urinal (1913).[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1534 – Des Périers uses it for a small coin.[11]
  • 1546 – First record as a short portable firearm.[2][5]
  • 1550 – The English pistolet is recorded.[10]
  • 1565 – A pistolet “dagger”, after Pistoia, is recorded.[6][3]
  • 1661 – Molière uses pistolet d'arçon.[11]
  • 1690 – Furetière records pistolet à rouet.[11]
  • 1829 – Drôle de pistolet “odd fellow”.[2][3]
  • 1852 – Nerval uses it for a small round bread roll.[2][3]
  • 1870 – The starter's pistol in races.[2]
  • 1924 – A paint sprayer.[2][3]
  • 1938 – Pistolet-mitrailleur “submachine gun”.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A pistol, a short portable firearm held in one hand: pistolet d'arçon, tir au pistolet.[5][2][11]
  2. A device or toy shaped like one: pistolet à eau, pistolet de starter.[5][2]
  3. A hand-held paint sprayer;[5][3] peinture au pistolet.[5][3]
  4. (Belgium) A small round bread roll.[5][3]
  5. A thin template for drawing curves.[5][2]
  6. (nautical) A curved davit.[5][3]
  7. A urinal for bedridden patients.[5][2]
  8. (familiar) An odd person: un drôle de pistolet.[5][3]

Word family

  • pistolet-mitrailleur
  • pistoleur

Usage notes

The Grand Robert numbers a second pistolet (1565, with the variants pistolier and pistoyer), named after Pistoia: a short dagger used in the 16th century, which its homonymy with the gun made hard to use.[6][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 16, 624–626
  8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 8, 601a
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Pistolet.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/pistolet. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·