Editing Musket (section)

==Etymology==
According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, firearms were often named after animals, and the word musket derived from the French word {{lang|fr|mousquette}}, which is a male [[Eurasian Sparrowhawk|sparrowhawk]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=musket&allowed_in_frame=0 |title=musket |website=Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=4 September 2016}}</ref> An alternative theory is that derives from the 16th-century French {{lang|fr|mousquet, -ette}}, from the Italian {{lang|it|moschetti, -etta}}, meaning the bolt of a [[crossbow]]. The Italian {{lang|it|moschetti}} is a diminutive of {{lang|it|mosca}}, a fly.<ref>''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology'', T. F. Hoed, Oxford University Press, 1888
({{ISBN|0-19-283098-8}}) p.&nbsp;305.</ref>

===Terminology===
The first recorded usage of the term "musket" or {{lang|it|moschetti}} appeared in Europe in the year 1499.{{sfn|Phillips|2016}} Evidence of the musket as a type of firearm does not appear until 1521 when it was used to describe an [[arquebus]] that was so heavy that it needed to be rested on a forked stick. Such muskets were used to kill heavily armored targets. This version of the musket fell out of use after the mid-16th century with the decline of heavy armour;{{sfn|Needham|1986|p=428}} however, the term itself stuck around as a general descriptor for "shoulder arms" fire weapons into the 19th century. The differences between the arquebus and musket post-16th century are therefore not entirely clear, and the two have been used interchangeably on several occasions.{{sfn|Chase|2003|p=61}}{{sfn|Little|2010|p=39}} According to historian David A. Parrot, the concept of the musket as a legitimate innovation is uncertain and may consist of nothing more than a name change.{{sfn|Rogers|1995|p=247}}