Main Entry: mus·ket

Pronunciation: \ˈməs-kət\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle French mousquet, from Old Italian moschetto small artillery piece, sparrow hawk, from diminutive of mosca fly, from Latin musca — more at midge

Date: circa 1587

: a heavy large-caliber muzzle-loading usually smoothbore shoulder firearm; broadly : a shoulder gun carried by infantry