fusil

[ fyoo-zuh l, -sil ]

/ ˈfyu zəl, -sɪl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fusil ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a light flintlock musket.

RELATED WORDS

rifle, carbine, weapon, firearm

Nearby words

Origin of fusil

1670–80; < French: musket, Old French fuisil, foisil steel for striking fire < Vulgar Latin *focīlis, derivative of Latin focus fire. See focus

Definition for fusil (2 of 2)

fusil

[ fyoo-zuh l, -sil ]

/ ˈfyu zəl, -sɪl /

adjective

formed by melting or casting; fused; founded.

Archaic. capable of being melted; fusible.

Archaic. melted; molten.

Also fu·sile

[fyoo-zuh l, -sil, -sahyl] /ˈfyu zəl, -sɪl, -saɪl/.

Origin of fusil

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin fūsilis molten, fluid. See fuse², -ile

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for fusil

Guillim says, "This form is derived from the fusil, or spindle for yarn, single women being called spinsters."
English Heraldic Book-stamps|Cyril Davenport
Alexis, meanwhile, had dropped his rifle and taken up the fusil of Pouchskin.
Bruin|Mayne Reid
The uncouthness of my garb, my wild and weatherworn appearance, my fusil and tomahawk, could not but startle them.
Edgar Huntley|Charles Brockden Brown
He took up his double-barrelled Spanish fusil, let it off, and killed the two monkeys.
Candide|Voltaire

He says that every Indian is furnished with a gun (either rifle or fusil), and an abundance of ammunition.
The Land of the Miamis|Elmore Barce

British Dictionary definitions for fusil (1 of 2)

fusil

/ (ˈfjuːzɪl) /

noun

a light flintlock musket

Word Origin for fusil

C16 (in the sense: steel for a tinderbox): from Old French fuisil, from Vulgar Latin focīlis (unattested), from Latin focus fire

British Dictionary definitions for fusil (2 of 2)

fusil

/ (ˈfjuːzɪl) /

noun

heraldry a charge shaped like a lengthened lozenge

Word Origin for fusil

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for fusil

fusil

flintlock musket, 1670s, from French fusil (see fusilier).