gun [ME] The first device to be called a gun in English may have been a kind of catapult used in medieval warfare to hurl rocks or arrows at the enemy. It is possible that the term may have derived from a pet form of the Scandinavian name Gunnhildr (from gunnr and hildr, both meaning ‘war’). Giving female personal names to weapons has been a common practice over the centuries. Examples include Mons Meg, a 15th-century cannon in Edinburgh Castle; Brown Bess, the nickname for a musket used by the British army in the 18th century; and Big Bertha, a large German gun used in the First World War.

If someone refuses to compromise or change, we can say that they are sticking to their guns. This comes from the battlefield, where sticking to your guns meant remaining at your post despite being under constant bombardment. To be gunning for someone is to be looking for a chance to attack them. In the 17th century, though, to go gunning was to go hunting. Gunboat diplomacy is foreign policy supported by the use or threat of military force. It is first mentioned in the 1920s, in reference to US policy in China.