The sound or act of firing a gun, or a single instance of a gun being discharged.
A compound word combining 'gun' (from Middle English, possibly from Old Norse 'gunnr' meaning battle) and 'shot' (from Old English 'scot' meaning 'a throwing or hitting'). The compound became standard in the 16th-17th centuries.
Gunshots is a compound word that didn't exist until guns became common in the 1500s—before that, people would have said something more awkward like 'the discharge of a gun.' It's one of many words that prove language constantly adapts to new technology.
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