arquebus
Americannoun
-
arquebuses
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of arquebus
First recorded in 1525–35; from Middle French harquebusche (with intrusive -r- ), from Middle Dutch hākebusse, equivalent to hāke “hook“ + busse “gun” (literally, “box”), from Late Latin buxis for Latin buxus “box tree, boxwood; flute made from boxwood”; see box 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Unlike the arquebus shouldered by foot soldiers, the pistol was often viewed with suspicion and disapproval.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
The Spanish conquistadors who invaded Mexico, for example, put greater faith in crossbows and cold steel than the arquebus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
By the fifteenth century, the Janissary corps of the Ottoman Empire were using firearms like the arquebus, an early long gun, in battle.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022
FOR all the centuries of refinement that separate a modern rifle from a Renaissance arquebus, the basic idea has not changed.
From Economist ● May 7, 2015
Jacopo's answer was to unsling his arquebus, which he rested crosswise on his thigh, and we began to slowly descend the slope towards the river, the loose gravel crunching under our horses' feet.
From The Honour of Savelli A Romance by S. (Sidney) Levett-Yeats
The Spaniard brought only 11 ships, some 450 men, 16 horses and a modest collection of cannons, crossbows and arquebuses, precursors to the musket.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
Armorers did a brisk business in swords, helmets and arquebuses, forerunners of the musket.
From Time Magazine Archive
For the king there was a "gorgeous coach and seven beautiful horses, twelve arquebuses, six of whalebone and six variegated, and a vase of rock crystal filled with perfumes."
From Famous European Artists by Sarah K. Bolton
Meantime here and there windows began to be thrown open in the neighborhood, and according to the pacific or bellicose dispositions of their inhabitants, were barricaded or bristled with muskets and arquebuses.
From Marguerite de Valois by Alexandre Dumas père
So then off dashed the four brave lads and came up with the guard of the Bargello,—upwards of fifty constables, counting pikes, arquebuses, and two-handed swords.
From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. VIII by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
