cannoneer
/ˌkænəˈnɪ(ə)ɹ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.43 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An artillery soldier who maintains and operates (historical) a cannon, or (now) some other piece of heavy artillery.
Example Sentences
- "Luckily, the cannoneer was only mildly injured when his cannon malfunctioned."
- "Then ſe the bringing of our ordinance / Along the trench into the battery, / VVhere vve vvil haue gabions of ſix foot broad / To ſaue our Cannoniers from muſket ſhot, […]"
- "The Irish cannoneers stood gallantly to their pieces till they were cut down to a man."
- "Just as the spring came laughing through the strife / With all its gorgeous cheer; / In the bright April of historic life / Fell the great cannoneer."
- "The American cannoneers, normally positioned well behind the front lines, found themselves unexpectedly thrust into a firefight. The cannoneers slammed shell after shell at the big German tanks, but the 105mm high-explosive rounds burst with little effect."
Etymology
Borrowed from French canonnier, with the ending reshaped to English -eer (suffix forming agent nouns denoting people associated with, concerned with, or engaged in specified activities). Canonnier is derived from Middle French cannonier, canonnier, from canon (“cannon”) (from cane (from Old French cane (“tube”), from Latin canna (“cane; reed; something resembling a cane”), from Ancient Greek κᾰ́ννᾰ (kắnnă, “giant reed (Arundo donax)”), from Akkadian 𒂵𒉡𒌑𒌝 (qanûm, “reed”)) + -on (augmentative suffix)) + -ier (suffix denoting a profession). By surface analysis, cannon + -eer.
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌkænəˈnɪ(ə)ɹ/
- British English: /kænəˈnɪə/