snaphaunce

[ snap-hans, -hahns ]

/ ˈsnæp hæns, -hɑns /

noun

an early flintlock mechanism for igniting a charge of gunpowder in a gun.

Nearby words

snap-on, snap-roll, snapback, snapchat, snapdragon, snaphaunce, snapper, snapper up, snapperback, snapping beetle, snapping shrimp

Origin of snaphaunce

1580–90; < Dutch snaphaan (or German Schnapphahn) orig., highwayman, equivalent to snap(pen) to snatch, snap + haan rooster (Dutch haan, German Hahn, parallel to cock¹, mean both “rooster” and “hammer of a firearm”); source of final s unclear

Examples from the Web for snaphaunce

Textual remarks Page 12, snaphaunce is not a Dutch word; it is derived from the Dutch snaphaan.
Gunnery in 1858|William Greener
Cotgrave has arquebuse à fusil, "a snaphaunce," and explains fusil as "a fire-steele for a tinder-box."
The Romance of Words (4th ed.)|Ernest Weekley
I have a couple of wheel locks, to start with, and three miguelet-locks and an Italian snaphaunce.
Murder in the Gunroom|Henry Beam Piper
There were also matchlocks, snaphaunce pieces, pistols, swords and hangers (cutlasses).
Domestic Life in Virginia in the Seventeenth Century|Annie Lash Jester

The “snaphaunce” or fire-lock, is distinctly stated by Grose to be of Dutch origin,—hence the name.
Gunnery in 1858|William Greener