bayonet

(bāˈə-nĭt, -nĕtˌ, bāˌə-nĕtˈ)

noun transitive verb bay·o·net·ed or bay·o·net·ted, bay·o·net·ing or bay·o·net·ting, bay·o·nets Word History: It is not unusual for a word to come from a place name. Cheddar, from the name of a village in southwest England; hamburger, after Hamburg, Germany; and mayonnaise, possibly from Mahón, the capital of Minorca, are often found together on our tables. The word bayonet, a very undomestic sort of word, also derives from a place name, that of Bayonne, a town in southwest France where the weapon was first made. The French word baïonnette could also mean “a dagger or a knife,” and the English word bayonet is first found in 1672 with this meaning. The word is first recorded in its present sense in 1704.