bayonet
pronunciation
How to pronounce bayonet in British English:
UK [ˈbeɪənət]
How to pronounce bayonet in American English:
US [ˈbeənɪt, -ˌnɛt, ˌbeəˈnɛt]
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- Noun:
- a knife that can be fixed to the end of a rifle and used as a weapon
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- Verb:
- stab or kill someone with a bayonet
Word Origin
- bayonet
- bayonet: [17] Bayonet comes from French bayonette, an early spelling of what is now baïonette. The French term is traditionally derived from Bayonne, the name of a town and port on the southwest coast of France, near Biarritz, where bayonets were supposedly first used by Basques of the area, in the 17th century. But this etymology is not universally accepted, and some have noted the resemblance to Old French bayon ‘crossbow bolt’.
- bayonet (n.)
- 1610s, originally a type of dagger; as a steel stabbing weapon fitted to the muzzle of a firearm, from 1670s, from French baionnette (16c.), said to be from Bayonne, city in Gascony where supposedly they first were made; or perhaps it is a diminutive of Old French bayon "crossbow bolt." The city name is from Late Latin baia "bay" + Basque on "good." As a verb from c. 1700.
Example
- 1. A bayonet was a tool with a worker at each end
- 2. This ss belt buckle was found on a blood-stained german military uniform with a soviet bayonet sticking out of it .
- 3. Suddenly , I saw a crouching enemy soldier moving up toward us , holding an enormous rifle with a fixed bayonet .
- 4. As you know , a bayonet is a sort of knife or spear that soldiers clip onto the end of their rifles .
- 5. Each will train 100 more . He also teaches them a new and deadly weapon ...... the bayonet .