Rifling
/ˈraɪ.flɪŋ/noun
The process of cutting spiral grooves inside a gun barrel to make a bullet spin; it can also mean searching through something quickly and thoroughly.
Did you know?The gun-related sense comes from the same root as German *Riffel* (“groove, corrugation”), while the “searching through” sense is a later English development from *rifle* meaning to rummage or plunder.
Etymological Timeline
Middle English
Middle English
riflen / riflen
“to search through, rummage, or plunder”
15th Century
English
rifle
“to plunder or search through quickly”
18th Century
English
rifle
“a firearm; later, to cut spiral grooves in a gun barrel”
18th-19th Century
English
rifling
“the spiral grooves inside a gun barrel; the act of cutting them”
Modern English
English
rifling
“the spiral-groove process in firearms, or the act of rummaging/searching through something”