Matchcords

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Slow-burning cord, soaked in saltpeter, that was touched to the powder pan to fire a historical matchlock musket
2. A length of smouldering fuse once used to ignite the charge in early firearms such as the matchlock
3. Treated twisted cord kept lit so that it could set off the gunpowder in an old handgun or musket

Etymology: "Matchcords" is the plural of "matchcord," a cord soaked in a slow-burning substance that was used to ignite gunpowder and cannon. The first part, "match," comes from Old French "mesche," which descends from Late Latin "myxa," borrowed from Greek "myxa," meaning mucus or the gunk clogging a lamp wick. "Cord" is the familiar English word for a string.