musket Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a muzzle-loading shoulder gun with a long barrel; formerly used by infantrymen

WordNet

Mus"ket noun
Etymology
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.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) 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 This arm has been generally superseded by the rifle. completely superseded

Webster 1913