Etymology

howitzer

H4O1W4I1T1Z10E1R1

Today it means: A cannon that combines certain characteristics of field guns and mortars, delivering projectiles with medium velocities, usually with relatively high trajectories; normally a cannon with a tube length of 20 to 30 calibers. Full definition →

Dutch houwitser ← German Haubitze ← Middle High German haufniz
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The story

  1. Old High German · derived fromhūfo
  2. Middle High German · derived fromhufe“heap”
  3. Czech · derived fromhoufnice
  4. Middle High German · derived fromhaufniz
  5. German · derived fromHaubitze
  6. Dutch · borrowed fromhouwitser
  7. English todayhowitzer

Borrowed from Dutch houwitser, from German Haubitze, from Middle High German haufniz, from Czech houfnice, which was derived from houf (“flock, crowd”) + -nice. The Czech noun houf comes from Middle High German hufe (“heap”), from Old High German hūfo.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.