Editing Blunderbuss (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:English flintlock blunderbuss.jpeg|alt=|thumb|An English flintlock blunderbuss]]

The term "blunderbuss" is of [[Dutch language|Dutch]] origin, from the Dutch word ''donderbus'', which is a combination of ''donder'', meaning "thunder", and ''bus'', meaning "container, tin" (Middle Dutch: ''busse'', box, jar, from [[Latin]] ''buxus'', box tree).<ref name=eb1911/>

The transition from ''donder'' to ''blunder'' is thought by some to be deliberate; the term ''blunder'' was originally used in a [[transitive verb|transitive]] sense, synonymous with ''to confuse'', and this is thought to describe the stunningly loud report of the large-bore, short-barreled blunderbuss.<ref name=scott/>{{verification failed|date=January 2017}} The term ''dragon'' is taken from the fact that early versions were decorated with a carving in the form of a mythic [[dragon]]'s head around the muzzle; the [[muzzle blast]] would then give the impression of a fire-breathing dragon.<ref name=mildict/>