gunman

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen-

Proto-Indo-European *-tis

Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰéntis

Proto-Germanic *gunþiz

Old Norse gunnrder.

Middle English gunne

English gun

Proto-Indo-European *mon-

Proto-Germanic *mann-

Proto-West Germanic *mann

Old English mann

Middle English man

Middle English -man

English -man

English gunman

From gun + -man.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡʌnmən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

gunman (plural gunmen)

1. A person armed with a gun, especially a gunned evildoer.
   • 1921, Zane Grey, chapter 5, in To The Last Man:

     "I've known a heap of gun fighters in my day. An' Jean Isbel don't ran true to class. Shore there never was a gunman who'd risk cripplin' his right hand by sluggin' anybody."

   • 2012 March 22, “Mohamed Merah: Who was Toulouse gunman?”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     Mohamed Merah, the man believed to be the gunman on a scooter who killed seven people in south-western France, was killed in an armed siege after police surrounded his block of flats in Toulouse.

2. (sometimes derogatory) An American.

Derived terms

• lone gunman

Translations

criminal armed with a gun

• Catalan: pistoler m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 槍手 / 枪手 (zh) (qiāngshǒu)

• Esperanto: revolverulo
• Finnish: pyssymies (fi), asemies (fi)
• French: bandit (fr) m, tireur (fr) m
• Hindi: बंदूक़धारी (bandūqdhārī)
• Ingrian: pyssymees
• Italian: pistolero (it) m, tiratore (it) m
• Japanese: ガンマン (ja) (ganman)
• Macedonian: пиштолџија m pl (pištoldžija)
• Persian: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: pistoleiro (pt) m, atirador (pt) m
• Russian: (no exact term exists) вооружённый престу́пник m (vooružónnyj prestúpnik), стрело́к (ru) m (strelók)
• Spanish: pistolero (es) m, pistolera f, tirador (es) m
• Swedish: skytt (sv) c, pistolskytt (sv) c
• Thai: มือปืน (th) (mʉʉ-bpʉʉn)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

See also

• gunwoman