War, law & rule

pistol

The Hussites of 15th-century Bohemia called a hand-gun píšťala, 'pipe, whistle', and Muscovy's matchlock was its cousin pishchal'; German and French probably passed pistole on, though some trace it to the gun-making town of Pistoia instead. Portuguese took pistola to India, and Dutch or English took it to Japan.

Weakest linkPossible

The road to English

From Proto-Slavic to Old East Slavic

From Middle French to Italian

From Middle French to French, Russian

From Middle French to Spanish

From Middle French to Portuguese, Hindi

From Middle French to Dutch, Japanese

600 CEProto-Slavic

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

pistol

Weakest linkPossible

The road to English

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