Bayonet

A bayonet (from Old French bayonette, now spelt baïonnette) is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped melee weapon designed to be mounted on the end of the barrel of a rifle, carbine, musket or similar long firearm, allowing the gun to be used as an improvised spear in close combats.^[1]

The term is derived from the town of Bayonne in southwestern France, where bayonets were supposedly first used by Basques in the 17th century.^[2] From the early 17th to the early 20th century, it was an infantry melee weapon used for both offensive and/or defensive tactics, usually when charging in mass formations or human wave attacks. Today, it is mostly considered an ancillary weapon, usually of last resort, and is rarely used (if wielded at all), although it is still displayed routinely for ceremonial purposes.

^ Brayley, Martin, Bayonets: An Illustrated History, Iola, WI: Krause Publications, ISBN 978-0-87349-870-8 (2004), pp. 9–10, 83–85.
^ J. Ayto, Dictionary of Word Origins, 1990

[BRA-1] Brayley, Martin, Bayonets: An Illustrated History, Iola, WI: Krause Publications, ISBN 978-0-87349-870-8 (2004), pp. 9–10, 83–85.

[2] J. Ayto, Dictionary of Word Origins, 1990

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