gun

The word 'gun' has one of the most remarkable origins in the English language: it almost certainly comes from a woman's name.‌​‍​‌​‌​‍​‍​‌​‌​‌​‍​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‌​‌​‍​‍​‌​‌​‌​‌​‍​‍​‍​‍​‌​‌​‌​‌​‍ The prevailing etymology traces it to the Old Norse female name 'Gunnhildr,' composed of 'gunnr' (war) and 'hildr' (battle) — a name meaning, in effect, 'war-battle.' Medieval soldiers had a well-documented practice of naming individual siege engines, cannons, and large crossbows with personal names, and the name Gunnhild (or its pet form Gunna) became attached to large projectile weapons.

The key piece of evidence is a 1330 munitions inventory from Windsor Castle that lists a large ballista as 'una magna balista de cornu quae vocatur Domina Gunilda' — 'a large horn crossbow which is called Lady Gunilda.' By 1339, the word 'gonne' appears in accounts from the same period referring to early gunpowder weapons. The transition from a proper name for a specific weapon to a generic noun for all firearms followed a familiar pattern in English: 'guy' (from Guy Fawkes), 'dunce' (from John Duns Scotus), and 'boycott' (from Captain Boycott) all underwent similar genericization.

The timing of the word's appearance aligns precisely with the introduction of gunpowder weapons to England. The earliest European firearms date from the early fourteenth century, and 'gonne/gunne' is first attested in English in the 1330s–1340s. Initially the word referred to large cannon, but by the fifteenth century it had expanded to include handheld firearms, and by the sixteenth century it was the standard English word for any projectile weapon using gunpowder.

Alternative etymologies have been proposed — a connection to the engine-word 'mangonel,' or to a lost word from a Continental language — but none is as well-supported as the Gunnhildr theory. The compound 'gunpowder' dates from the fourteenth century. 'Gunner' (one who operates a gun) is from the same period. 'Gunwale' (originally 'gun wale,' the upper edge of a ship's side where cannons were mounted) dates from the fifteenth century.

The figurative extensions of 'gun' are extensive. 'Gunning for' (pursuing aggressively) dates from the nineteenth century. 'Top gun' (the best, originally the most skilled fighter pilot) was popularized during World War II. 'Hired gun' (a mercenary, now often figurative for a specialist brought in to solve a problem) dates from the American Old West. 'Smoking gun' (conclusive evidence) emerged during the Watergate scandal of the 1970s.

The cultural and political weight of the word 'gun' in American English is immense. Few monosyllables carry as much ideological charge. The Second Amendment, gun control, gun rights, gun violence — the word sits at the center of one of the most enduring debates in American public life, a four-letter word named after a Viking woman.