Etymograph

English

gunner

Gunner comes from Middle English gunner ‘an operator of a siege engine’, and goes back to gunne.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gunne1‘a trebuchet or similar kind of pellet-firing siege engine’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gunner2as gonner‘an operator of a siege engine’
  3. Englishtodaygunner2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Middle English gunner
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English gunner

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gunneWiktionary, Middle English gunner‘a trebuchet or similar kind of pellet-firing siege engine’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gunnerWiktionary, English gunneras gonner‘an operator of a siege engine’
  3. EnglishtodaygunnerWiktionary, English gunner

Formed from gun + -er

Middle English gunne

English gun

Linked words

through Middle English gunne ‘a trebuchet or similar kind of pellet-firing…’

gun, 2 more

Another origin of gunner

  1. Cebuanomoderngunner‘the person designated to pour drinks in a drinking session’
  2. Englishtodaygunner

Today it means

noun An artillery soldier, especially one who holds private rank.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “gunner”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Middle English gunner. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle English gunne / gunner

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