Haquebuses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Early muzzle-loading firearms used in the 15th to 17th centuries, characterized by a long barrel and typically fired from the shoulder; also refers to the weapons' use in military formations during that era
2. Long-barreled handheld firearms from the Renaissance period designed for infantrymen to deliver projectiles by ignition of gunpowder; historically significant as a precursor to modern rifles
3. Shoulder-fired guns from early modern Europe, known for their heavy barrel and matchlock firing mechanism; notably employed in warfare before the development of more advanced gunpowder arms

Etymology: Haquebuses are the hand cannons of the fifteenth century, and the name is a Dutch-to-English borrowing. It comes from Middle Dutch "haecbusse," which combined "haec," a hook, with "busse," a gun or cannon barrel. The hook was the point: early guns were often fitted with a metal hook on the stock or barrel that could be hooked over a city wall or the rail of a ship to steady the weapon when it recoiled. The Dutch word was itself borrowed into French as "arquebuse," and English adopted the French form, later the Dutch-derived spelling "haquebut" and its plural "haquebuses," around the late 1400s. The plural "haquebuses" is simply the plural of "haquebus," so the same history applies. Its spelling in English shifted several times, which is why the word appears in old texts as "hackbut," "hagbut," and "arquebus" as well.

Synonyms: arquebuses, muskets, firearms, guns, rifles