A long gun used by soldiers from the 1600s to 1800s, fired by lighting a fuse attached to gunpowder.
From Italian 'moschetto' (a small cannon or gun), possibly from 'mosca' (fly). The word spread to English during the era when muskets dominated warfare.
Muskets changed warfare forever because they could penetrate heavy armor that swords and crossbows couldn't—armies stopped using knights in armor and started using infantry with muskets, which is why the medieval period ended!
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