Musketeer
/ˌmʌskɪˈtɪr/noun
A soldier armed with a musket, especially one of the French royal guards or cavalry in early modern Europe.
Did you know?The word comes from French mousquetaire, originally a musket-armed soldier, and the musket itself was named after a small bird, so a battlefield word grew from a bird name.
Etymological Timeline
16th Century
French
mousquetaire
“A soldier armed with a musket”
16th Century
French
mousquette
“A small musket or firearm”
16th Century
Italian
moschetto
“A small musket or dart; also a small hawk”
Late Latin
Latin
musca
“A fly”
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*mus-
“Fly”