A light musket or rifle used in the 17th and 18th centuries, or a soldier armed with such a weapon.
From French fusil, meaning 'firelock' or 'musket,' derived from fusée (spindle or fuse), referring to the firing mechanism that resembled a spindle-shaped object. The word entered English military vocabulary in the 1600s.
Fuziliers were elite light infantry who carried these weapons and were valued for their speed and accuracy—regiments named after them, like the Royal Welch Fusiliers, still exist today in the British Army with the original spelling!
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