▪ I. ˈpistolet1
Also 6 -olett, -ollet, pystolet(t, pistlett, pestilet(t, pestelet, 6–7 Sc. pistolat(e.
[a. F. pistolet, (a) a small dagger or poniard; (b) a small fire-arm, a pistol, in It. pistoletto (16th c.); app. dim. from stem of It. pistolese (see pistolese).
The theory is that F. pistolet (or ? It. pistoletto) with dim. form was applied first to a small dagger, as compared to the It. pistolese, and was thence transferred to the pistol, which was also small as compared with the harquebus: see H. Estienne Conf. de la langue fr. avec le grec, 1569, préface.]
† 1. (ˈpɪstɒlɛt). A small fire-arm: the earlier name of the pistol. Obs.
| 1550 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 95 To schut with halff haige or culvering or pistolate. 1561–2 in Middlesex County Rec. (1886) I. 43 A pystolett de ferro et calibe. 1567 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 593 To schute with culveringis, daggis, pistolettis, or ony utheris gunnis or ingynis of fyrewerk. [So 1571, 1573, 1599, 1626, 1637, etc. Ibid.] 1583 Foxe A. & M. (ed. 4) 2153/1 The Amirall..by the way was stroken with a Pistolet charged with iij pellets. 1590 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees) II. 185 The apparell of M{supr} John Lawson, and his pistlett, and the stringes to it, 20{supl}. 1599 James I βασιλ. Δωρον (1603) 47 My lawes made against gunnes and traiterous pistolets. 1650 Trapp Comm. Num. x. 7 The Lutherans met by the clap of harquebuzes and pistolets. |
‖ 2. (pistɔle). Esp. in Belgium, a small bread roll (so called because of its shape).
| 1853 C. Brontë Villette I. viii. 142 Boarders were..regaled with..pistolets au beurre (rolls) and coffee. a 1855 ― Professor (1857) I. xiii. 224, I stirred my cup of coffee with a half-pistolet (we never had spoons). 1857 Mrs. Gaskell C. Brontë I. xi. 271 A slight meal of water and pistolets (the delicious little Brussels rolls). 1897 G. du Maurier Martian iv. 185 Breakfasted on a little roll called a pistolet and a cup of coffee. 1961 T. Henrot Belgium 189 Small rolls are either Viennois, miches or, quaintly, pistolets. 1975 T. Allbeury Special Collection xiv. 95 A basket was filled with bread, from poppy-seed rolls to..grey Minsk pistolets. |
▪ II. † pistolet2 Obs.
Also 6 pisto-, pystolette, Sc. pistolat(t, -ate, 7 pistollet, -olett.
[a. F. pistolet (early 16th c. in Hatz.-Darm.; Godefroy's date 1480 is doubted). History obscure.
Generally held to be the same word as pistolet the weapon, and according to Des Accords (16th c. in Littré) applied in pleasantry to the Spanish écus ‘because they are smaller than the others’. But as yet French lexicographers cite no instances of pistolet the weapon of as early a date as those of pistolet the coin.]
A name given to certain foreign gold coins; in the 16th c. usually ranging in value from 5s. 10d. to 6s. 8d.; in later times (quot. 1659) = pistole.
| 1553 Proclam. 4 May in Tudor Proclam. [99] Euery Pystolette..shalbe demed and accepted to be of the value of vj.s. ij.d. of the curraunt moneye of this realme. 1556 W. Towrson in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 99, I payed them [off the coast of Barbary] twentie and seuen Pistolets. 1560 Proclam. 2 Nov. in MS. Arch. Bodl F. c. 11 lf. 32 Of late the peece of gold called the Pistolet was made Currant at fiue shyllynges & tenne pence. By the name or value of Pistolettes, none shalbe currant..but only foure severall peeces and Coynes hereafter pourtraicted and stamped: The fyrst and seconde beyng of the kyng of Spaynes Coyne, the thyrde of Venize, and the fourth of Florence. 1574 Records of Elgin (New Spald. Cl.) I. 145 Ane rose nobill, twa angell nobillis and twa pistolat crownis. 1599 Thynne Animadv. (1875) 47 Aboute the valewe of iijs iiijd, beinge halfe a pistolet Italiane or spanyshe. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 290 The Spanish pistolet, and double pistolet..the double pistolet contains two French Crownes. Ibid. 291 At Venice..A double pistolet of Spaine, called Dublon, is..giuen for seuenteene lires. 1659 Heylin Examen Hist. i. 268 Each Pistolet exchang'd at sixteen shillings six pence. |