Gunhunter

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who pursues wild game or prey using a firearm as the main tool of the hunt
2. Someone who goes after animals in the field armed with a gun and the skills to shoot them
3. A hunter who relies on a rifle or shotgun to track and take quarry in the wild

Etymology: Gunhunter is a plain English compound, made by joining "gun" and "hunter" with no hyphen. "Gun" traces back to the Old Norse name "Gunnhildr" and related personal names, and in English it was often used as a nickname for "Gunnora" and "Gunhild" in the medieval period, though the modern sense of the word is quite different. "Hunter," from Old English "huntere," is the older of the two parts, having been used for people who pursued game since the Anglo-Saxon period. The compound itself is a modern formation rather than an old one. It was assembled from the two existing words to name a hunter whose main tool is a firearm, a distinction that matters because hunters once used bows, spears, traps, and dogs. Its exact date of first use in English is uncertain, but the pattern of pairing a weapon with "hunter" to name a specialist is well established and appears in other compounds such as "bowhunter" and "trophy hunter."