▪ I. harquebus, arquebus, n.
(ˈhɑːkwɪbəs, ˈɑːk-)
Also † harquebut, † harquebush. Forms: α. 6 harquebutt(e, -but. β. 6 arkbussh, 6–7 harga-, hargu-, harguebush(e, harquebush. γ. 6–7 harga-, hargu-, hargue-, -buse, buze, hargwebusse, harkaboize, harquebuz(e, -busse, 7 hargebuse, harguebus(s)e, 7–8 harquebuse, 7– -buss, 6– harquebus. δ. 6 arcubos(e, 7 -buse, arquebwze, 7–9 arquebuss, 8–9 -bus, -buse.
[a. 16th c. F. (h)arquebuse (-bute, etc.). The MHG. hake(n)bühse, MLG. hakebusse (see hackbush), was transformed in It., by popular etymology, into arcobugio, -buso (arco bow + bugio, buso ‘hollow, hole’, in reference to the hollow barrel, and to its taking the place of the bow or arbalest), also later archibugio, -buso (cf. Sp. arcabuz); under the influence of the It., the earlier French name haquebute (see hackbut) was changed through the intermediate harquebute, harquebuse, to arquebuse. These French forms were in turn adopted in English, where also the influence of the earlier hackbush, hagbush, gave rise to the mixed forms harquebush, hargubush, harguebusse, etc.]
1. The early type of portable gun, varying in size from a small cannon to a musket, which on account of its weight was, when used in the field, supported upon a tripod, trestle, or other ‘carriage’, and afterwards upon a forked ‘rest’. The name in German and Flemish meant literally ‘hook-gun’, from the hook cast along with the piece, by which it was fastened to the ‘carriage’; but the name became generic for portable fire-arms generally in the 16th century, so that the type with the hook was subsequently distinguished as arquebuse à croc: see 2.
According to Wendelin Boeheim, Handbuch der Waffenkunde (Leipzig 1890) 447, 455, the hook of the original hakenbühse was intended to hold on to a wall or other fixed object, partly to support the weight of the barrel and partly to diminish the recoil. Maximilian I (early 16th cent.) introduced the portable tripod which could be put together in the field. The forked rest came in about 1520, with the Spanish musket.
| α 1574 Lanc. Lieutenancy i. (Chetham Soc.) 42 Sir Thomas Hesketh Knight to furnishe..Harquebuttes ij. |
| β 1532 Elyot Let. to Dk. Norkolk 14 Mar. in Gov. (1883) Life 80 Arkbusshes and crossebowes, I thowght theim innumerable. a 1557 Assault of Cupid in Tottell's Misc. (Arb.) 173 The hargabushe.. dims the ayre with misty smokes. 1625 Markham Souldiers Accid. 5 If you haue Harquebushes (which are now out of vse with vs). 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 153/1 Wounds..either with Arrows, or with the Harquebush, or Gun-shot. |
| γ 1555 Eden Decades 4 Crossebowes, bylles, hargabuses. 1562 J. Shute tr. Cambine's Turk. Wars Ep. Ded. * * j b, Yf he vse the harquebuze he is..shotte to deathe with harquebuzes. 1575 Churchyard Chippes (1817) 85 As you see..crowes flie out of a wood, when a harkaboize is shotte of. 1590 Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons C j b, Caliuers..being of a greater length and heighth of bullet, and more ranforced than Harquebuzes. 1622 F. Markham Bk. War i. ix. 33 Harquebusses I cannot allow in this place, because they are grown out of vse, and can by no means make their encounter good where the Musquet is opposed against them. 1634 T. Johnson Parey's Chirurg. xi. (1678) 270 Harquebuse, a word..borrowed from the Italians, be reason of the touch⁓hole by which you give fire to the Piece. a 1674 Milton Hist. Mosc. iv. (1851) 494 A Peal of 170 Brass Ordnance..and 20000 Harquebuzes twice over. 1753 Hanway Trav. (1762) II. vi. ii. 153 A kind of harquebuses, which carry a handful of musket balls. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. iv. xxix, Level each harquebuss on row; Draw, merry archers, draw the bow. a 1864 Hawthorne S. Felton (1879) 23 The heavy harquebus. |
| δ c 1540 Pepwell in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. II. 64 They do ocupy her now..with Arcubozys, wiche gyvythe doble the stroke of a hand gon. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 982 In battell they use the arcubuse and scimitar. 1605 Camden Rem. (1657) 208 Chambers, slinges, arquebwze. 1813 Byron Giaour 521, Each armed, as best becomes a man, With arquebuss and ataghan. 1829 W. Irving Chron. Conq. Granada II. lxx. 178 A chance medley combat ensued, with lances, arquebuses, cross-bows, and cimeters. |
† 2. harquebus à croc (corruptly
of crock): ‘An arquebuss supported on a rest by a hook of iron fastened to the barrel. From the size of its calibre it was used to fire through loop-holes’ (Meyrick
Anc. Armour 1824).
Obs. (As this was exactly the original
hakenbühse, the addition
à croc, ‘with hook’, was doubtless made after the etymological meaning of
haquebute or
arquebuse was forgotten, and the name extended to fire-arms which had no
haken or
croc. Littré identifies the
croc with the
fourchette or
rest, but one of his quotations has ‘chacun une harquebuse à croc sans fourchette’ and another explains the use of the
croc: ‘harquebuses à croc, que l'on ne peut bien tirer si elles ne sont liées et accrochées sur du bois’, tied and
hooked upon wood.)
| [1547, etc. see hackbush, -but]. 1572 Inv. in Whitaker Hist. Craven (1812) 334, 11 harquebusses of crocke. 1611 Cotgr., Arquebuse à croc, an harguebuse a-crocke (somewhat bigger than a musket). 1625 Sir J. Glanville Voy. Cadiz 27 Oct. (Camden) 75 By the faire carrieng of their peices Itt was manifest that some of them were Harque-bush of Crocke. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xiv. 69 For Curriours, Hargabusacrocks [1653–92 Harquebuses]..Bastard-muskets, Coliuers. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. lxix. 280 All the Elephants carried wooden castles on their backs, from whence they shot with Musquets..and a great number of Harquebuses a crock, each of them ten or twelve spans long. 1678 tr. Gaya's Arms of War 87 The Arquebuss a Crock is made of Iron, in form of a great Musket. It may be fired three hundred times a day..The Bullet of it weighs three ounces. a 1693 Ludlow Mem. (1771) 31 A great wall⁓gun called a Harquebuz de Croq being fired from the top of the castle. |
3. collectively. Soldiers armed with harquebuses.
| 1594 Peele Alcazar iv. E ij, Garded about With full fiue hundred hargubuze on foote. 1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. i. iii, Maine squares of pikes, millions of harguebush. 1638 Ford Lady's Trial iv. ii, Yongster Brogen-foh, with four⁓score hargubush. |
4. attrib. and
Comb., as
harquebus shot,
harquebus-man.
| 1574 G. Baker Oleum Magistr. title-p., The which Oyl cureth..Wounds, Contusion, Hargubush Shot [etc.]. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres 134, 600 quintals of hargubuze powder. 1600 J. Dymmok Ireland (1843) 34 Towards the northeast not more than halfe an hargubuz shott. 1687 Knolles' Hist. Turks (1787) 829/1 Grasold, General of the Italians, there slain with a Harquebuse Shot. |
▪ II. † harquebus, v. To shoot as a harquebus.
| a 1693 Urquhart Rabelais III. xxvi. 217 Harcabuzzing. |