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Today it means

blunderbuss

a short large-bored gun firing many balls

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Where does the word "blunderbuss" come from? It comes from Dutch donderbus, and was adopted directly into English (1650s).

Read the full story

Where does the word "blunderbuss" come from? It comes from Dutch donderbus, and was adopted directly into English (1650s).

Blunderbuss’s story begins in Dutch: donderbus meant “thunder gun.” 'thunder gun', from 'donder', thunder, and 'bus', gun barrel. It reached English by 1650s as blunderbuss. Reshaped by English 'blunder', a fitting word for such an inaccurate gun. Today, blunderbuss means a short large-bored gun firing many balls.

  1. Stage 1 · Dutch · 1600s donderbus "thunder gun", 'thunder gun', from 'donder', thunder, and 'bus', gun barrel.
  2. Stage 2 · English · 1650s blunderbuss "scattergun", reshaped by English 'blunder', a fitting word for such an inaccurate gun.

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