Word.ws English Dictionary

handgonne

handgonne noun: a handheld pre-matchlock black-powder gun.

Noun

handgonne (plural handgonnes)

  1. (historical) A handheld pre-matchlock black-powder gun.
    • mere dry-as-dust knowledge of how Cæsar invaded Gaul, or Hannibal Italy, is about as useful as a knowledge of the "handgonne" would be for working a 12-pounder breech-loader.1894, W. H. James, Modern Strategy
    • It is not known exactly when handheld black-powder weapons were first used, nor when the handgonne was later replaced by the matchlock.2010, Sean McLachlan, Medieval Handgonnes, Osprey Publishing, page 4

Forms of handgonne

pluralhandgonnes

Origin of handgonne

Learned borrowing from Middle English handgonne. Doublet of handgun.

Questions about handgonne

What does handgonne mean?
Handgonne means a handheld pre-matchlock black-powder gun.
What part of speech is handgonne?
Handgonne is a noun.
What is the plural of handgonne?
The plural of handgonne is handgonnes.

Words near handgonne in the dictionary

  1. handglasses
  2. handglide
  3. handglides
  4. handglove
  5. handgloves
  6. handgonne
  7. handgonnes
  8. handgrab
  9. handgrabs
  10. handgrasp
  11. handgrasps

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: handgonne (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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