blunderbuss English · revision 2385

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈblʌn.dəˌbʌs/ ''(UK)''; /ˈblʌn.dɚˌbʌs/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|nl|donderbus]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) altered by association with ''blunder'',^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) the Dutch word being from ''donder'' “thunder”, Middle Dutch ''doner'',^(AHD)^(Etymonline) and obsolete ''bus'' “gun”, originally “box, tube”,^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(AHD) from Middle Dutch ''busse'' and ultimately Latin ''buxis'' “box”.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A short gun with a large bore, firing many balls or slugs at close range without exact aim (1654).^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The weapon's flaring muzzle made it easy to load and to spread shot;^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) the folk-etymological ''blunder'' fitted a gun that hit without careful aim.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The name was transferred to people: first a blustering noisy talker, then (1685) a blundering fellow.^(OED 1989) A rare sense “a blunder; trouble” is recorded from 1726.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1654 – a short, wide-bored gun.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1685 – a blundering fellow.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1726 – a blunder; trouble (rare, obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1870 – verb, to shoot with a blunderbuss.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A short, muzzle-loading musket with a wide bore and flaring muzzle, used to scatter shot at close range.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A clumsy, blundering or insensitive person.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[thunder]]

+ * [[blunder]]

+ * [[harquebus]]

+ * [[box]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}