English
rifle
Rifle comes from Old French rifler ‘to lightly scratch, scrape off, plunder’, and goes back to Old High German riffilōn.
- Old High Germanc. 750–1050riffilōn
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400rifler‘to lightly scratch, scrape off, plunder’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500riflen‘to rob, plunder, search through’
- Englishearliest quotation 1566rifle
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old High Germanc. 750–1050riffilōn
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400rifler‘to lightly scratch, scrape off, plunder’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500riflen‘to rob, plunder, search through’
- Englishearliest quotation 1566rifle
Earliest quotation: 1566, Thomas Harman: “Thither repair at accustomed times their harlots […] not…”
The story
Originally short for “rifled gun”, referring to the spiral grooves inside the barrel.
Linked words
through Middle English riflen ‘to rob, plunder, search through’
Today it means
noun A firearm fired from the shoulder; improved range and accuracy is provided by a long, rifled barrel.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old High German riffilōn / rifle