Back Bajonet Afrikaans حربة (بندقية) Arabic Bayoneta AST Süngü Azerbaijani Штык Bashkir Багнет Byelorussian Багнет BE-X-OLD Щик Bulgarian বেয়নেট Bengali/Bangla Baionetez Breton
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 combat.[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 defensive tactics, usually when charging in mass formations (human wave attacks). In contemporary times, bayonets are considered a weapon of last resort, and are rarely used in combat, although they are still used for ceremonial purposes (e.g, Military parades).
- ^ Brayley, Martin, Bayonets: An Illustrated History, Iola, WI: Krause Publications, ISBN 978-0-87349-870-8 (2004), pp. 9–10, 83–85.
- ^ John Ayto, Dictionary of Word Origins, 1990