Hypertext Webster Gateway: "musket"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Musket \Mus"ket\, n. [F. mousquet, It. moschetto, formerly, a
kind of hawk; cf. OF. mousket, moschet, a kind of hawk
falcon, F. mouchet, prop., a little fly (the hawk prob. being
named from its size), fr. L. musca a fly. Cf. {Mosquito}.]
[Sometimes written also {musquet}.]
1. (Zo["o]l.) The male of the sparrow hawk.
2. A species of firearm formerly carried by the infantry of
an army. It was originally fired by means of a match, or
matchlock, for which several mechanical appliances
(including the flintlock, and finally the percussion lock)
were successively substituted. This arm has been generally
superseded by the rifle.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
musket
n : a muzzle-loading shoulder gun with a long barrel; formerly
used by infantrymen
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