rifle English · revision 7049

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1333|origins=fro rifler}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɹaɪfəl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb, to plunder, is Middle English riflen, [[bor|fro|rifler|t=to graze, scratch; to strip, plunder]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) probably from Germanic, compare obsolete Dutch rijffelen, to scratch, and Old English geriflian, to wrinkle.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) The firearm comes from a later borrowing of French rifler, to scratch or groove, as the verb “to rifle” a gun barrel, to cut spiral grooves in it (1635).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To plunder: about 1333, before 1338 as riflen.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Word Origins traces the plunder sense via ''search for valuables'' to ''search thoroughly''.^(Cresswell 2021) To rob someone thoroughly by searching pockets is from the mid-14th century.^(Etymonline) The grooves themselves were called rifles from before 1751,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) after the ''rifled pistol'' of the 1680s, and a firearm with a spirally grooved bore is a rifle by 1775 (1770 in the OED).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The spirals spin the bullet, making it fly more accurately.^(Etymonline) ''Rifles'', troops armed with rifles, is from 1843.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1333 – to plunder.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1635 – to groove a gun barrel.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1751 – the grooves.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1770 – a rifle, the firearm.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1843 – riflemen.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A long-barrelled gun fired from the shoulder, with spiral grooves in the bore.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(rifles)'' Troops armed with rifles.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To search through something quickly, often to steal from it.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To cut spiral grooves inside a gun barrel.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To hit or throw a ball very hard.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[rifler]]

+ * [[riflebird]]

+ * [[riflery]]

+ * [[riflescope]]

+ * [[rifleman]]

+ * [[rifling]]

+ * [[automatic rifle]]

+ * [[rifled slug]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[riffle]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}