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
Finally many others succeeded in reaching the Two Mills Gate at the moment that a company of Protestants, attracted by the sound of arquebus shots, sallied from the city and were hastening to the beach.
From The Pocket Bible or Christian the Printer A Tale of the Sixteenth Century by Eug?ne Sue
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
At that period the principal weapons were crossbows, arquebuses, lances, and halberds.
From The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 4, July, 1851 by Various
Half a dozen arquebuses and pistols decorated the mantel-piece, giving the room something of the air of an armoury.
From My Lady Rotha A Romance by Stanley J. Weyman
All this was accordingly done, and as soon as daylight had broken forth, we moved forward, four hundred in number, with fourteen horse and a sufficient number of matchlocks and arquebuses.
From The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 1 (of 2) Written by Himself Containing a True and Full Account of the Discovery and Conquest of Mexico and New Spain. by Bernal Díaz del Castillo
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