bayonet English · revision 2389

15 Oct 2026, 06:31 by bogdan “New entry from dictionary sources” current version
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+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /ˈbeɪənɪt/, /ˈbeɪənɛt/, /ˌbeɪəˈnɛt/^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[bor|fr|baïonnette]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) after ''Bayonne'', the town in southwestern France where the weapon was first made.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) Etymonline also allows a diminutive of Old French ''bayon'' “crossbow bolt”.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A short flat dagger (1611).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The French word could mean a dagger or knife,^(AHD) and that was its first English sense.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) By 1672 it meant a steel blade fixed to the muzzle of a musket or rifle,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) at first with its handle inserted into the barrel.^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary) The American Heritage Dictionary dates the present sense to 1704 and Merriam-Webster to 1689.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) It was later used for military force in the abstract (1774), for soldiers armed with bayonets (1780), and for a pin that locks into a slot, as in a ''bayonet'' fitting.^(OED 1989)^(RHWU)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1611 – a short flat dagger.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)
+ * 1672 – a stabbing blade fixed to the muzzle of a firearm.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)
+ * c1700 – verb, to stab with a bayonet.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
+ * 1774 – military force.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1780 – soldiers armed with bayonets.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1790 – verb, to drive or compel at bayonet point.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1798 – a pin that engages and disengages machinery.^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A blade attached to the muzzle of a rifle or similar firearm, used in hand-to-hand fighting.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # A pin projecting from the side of an object, such as a lamp base or camera lens, that locks into a matching socket.^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ===Verb===
+ # To stab or kill with a bayonet.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # To compel or drive by or as if by the bayonet.^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[sword bayonet]]
+ * [[Spanish bayonet]]
+ 
+ ==Usage notes==
+ In the United States the inflected forms are usually spelled ''bayoneted'' and ''bayoneting'', in the United Kingdom ''bayonetted'' and ''bayonetting''.^(Wiktionary)^(MW Collegiate)
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}