[bey-uh-nit, -net, bey-uh-net] 
noun, verb,-net·ed or -net·ted, -net·ing or -net·ting. | bay·o·net (bā'ə-nĭt, -nět', bā'ə-nět') n. A blade adapted to fit the muzzle end of a rifle and used as a weapon in close combat. tr.v. bay·o·net·ed or bay·o·net·ted, bay·o·net·ing or bay·o·net·ting, bay·o·nets To prod, stab, or kill with this weapon. [French baïonnette, after Bayonne, a town of southwest France.] Word History: It is not unusual for a word to come from a place name. Cheddar, from the name of a village in southwest England; hamburger, after Hamburg, Germany; and mayonnaise, possibly from Mahón, the capital of Minorca, are often found together on our tables. The word bayonet, a very undomestic sort of word, also derives from a place name, that of Bayonne, a town in southwest France where the weapon was first made. The French word baïonnette could also mean "a dagger or a knife," and the English word bayonet is first found in 1672 with this meaning. The word is first recorded in its present sense in 1704. |
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