fusil1
[fyoo-zuh l, -sil]
- a light flintlock musket.
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Origin of fusil1
1670–80; < French: musket, Old French fuisil, foisil steel for striking fire < Vulgar Latin *focīlis, derivative of Latin focus fire. See focus
fusil2
[fyoo-zuh l, -sil]
- formed by melting or casting; fused; founded.
- Archaic. capable of being melted; fusible.
- Archaic. melted; molten.
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Also fu·sile [fyoo-zuh l, -sil, -sahyl] /ˈfyu zəl, -sɪl, -saɪl/.
Origin of fusil2
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for fusil
Historical Examples
Our artillery lost its value, and we met them with fusil and caliver.
John SplendidNeil Munro
Alexis, meanwhile, had dropped his rifle and taken up the fusil of Pouchskin.
BruinMayne Reid
You talk one minute about using your fusil to shoot me, and I am not afraid.
Trapped by MalaysGeorge Manville Fenn
When I had reached and cocked it, I presented it at an Indian who was unsheathing his fusil.
Many are also provided with the Northwestern fusil, and some have rifles.
fusil1
- a light flintlock musket
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Word Origin
C16 (in the sense: steel for a tinderbox): from Old French fuisil, from Vulgar Latin focīlis (unattested), from Latin focus fire
fusil2
- heraldry a charge shaped like a lengthened lozenge
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Word Origin
C15: from Old French fusel, ultimately from Latin fūsus spindle, fuse 1 (the heraldic lozenge originally represented a spindle covered with tow for spinning)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for fusil
n.
flintlock musket, 1670s, from French fusil (see fusilier).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper