Meanings
plural firearms · alternative rare fire arm
- A personal weapon that uses explosive powder to propel a projectile often made of lead.
David was arrested for illegal possession of firearms.
1 more example
Understanding gun ownership in the US can help inform debates about firearm laws (or lack thereof). […] There are about 393 million privately owned firearms in the US, according to an estimate by the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey – or in other words, 120 guns for every 100 Americans.
2022 June 2, Harmeet Kaur, “What studies reveal about gun ownership in the US”, in CNN, archived from the original on 10 Aug 2022
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA personal weapon that uses explosive powder to propel a projectile often made of lead.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*péh₂wr̥
- Proto-Germanic*fōr
- Proto-West Germanic*fuir
- Old Englishfȳr
- Middle Englishfyr
- Englishfire
- Englisharm
- Englishfirearm
From fire (“projectile discharge”) + arm (“weapon”).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans vuurwapen
- vuurwapenpersonal weapon
Arabic سِلَاح نَارِيّ
- سِلَاح نَارِيّ (silāḥ nāriyy)personal weapon
Basque su-arma
- su-armapersonal weapon
Bengali আগ্নেয়াস্ত্র
- আগ্নেয়াস্ত্র (agneẏastro)personal weapon
Bulgarian огнестре́лно оръ́жие
- огнестре́лно оръ́жие (ognestrélno orắžie)personal weapon
Catalan arma de foc
- arma de focpersonal weapon
Chinese Mandarin 火器, 槍械 /枪械
- 火器 (huǒqì)personal weapon
- 槍械 /枪械 (qiāngxiè)personal weapon
- 火槍 /火枪 (huǒqiāng)personal weapon
- 槍炮 /枪炮 (qiāngpào)personal weapon
Czech palná zbraň
- palná zbraňpersonal weapon
Danish ildvåben, skydevåben
- ildvåbenpersonal weapon
- skydevåbenpersonal weapon
Dutch vuurwapen
- vuurwapenpersonal weapon
Esperanto pafilo, pafarmilo
- pafilopersonal weapon
- pafarmilopersonal weapon
Estonian tulirelv
- tulirelvpersonal weapon
Finnish tuliase
- tuliasepersonal weapon
French arme à feu, flingue
- arme à feupersonal weapon
- flinguepersonal weapon
German Schusswaffe, Feuerwaffe
- Schusswaffepersonal weapon
- Feuerwaffepersonal weapon
- Feuerarmpersonal weapon
Greek πυροβόλο όπλο
- πυροβόλο όπλο (pyrovólo óplo)personal weapon
Hebrew נֶשֶׁק חַם
- נֶשֶׁק חַם (neshek ham)personal weapon
Hindi अग्निशस्त्र
- अग्निशस्त्र (agniśastra)personal weapon
Hungarian tűzfegyver, lőfegyver
- tűzfegyverpersonal weapon
- lőfegyverpersonal weapon
Icelandic skotvopn
- skotvopnpersonal weapon
Indonesian senjata api
- senjata apipersonal weapon
Irish arm tine
- arm tinepersonal weapon
Italian arma da fuoco
- arma da fuocopersonal weapon
Japanese 火器, ファイアアーム
- 火器 (kaki)personal weapon
- ファイアアーム (faiaāmu)personal weapon
Korean 화기
- 화기 (hwagi)personal weapon
Latin arma ignifera, sclopetum
- arma igniferapersonal weapon
- sclopetumpersonal weapon
Latvian šaujamierocis
- šaujamierocispersonal weapon
Lithuanian šaunamasis ginklas
- šaunamasis ginklaspersonal weapon
Malay senjata api
- senjata apipersonal weapon
Māori pū, kōpere tupua
- pūpersonal weapon
- kōpere tupuapersonal weapon
Norwegian Bokmål skytevåpen
- skytevåpenpersonal weapon
Polish broń palna, giwera
- broń palnapersonal weapon
- giwerapersonal weapon
Portuguese arma de fogo
- arma de fogopersonal weapon
Punjabi ਆਤਸ਼ੀ ਅਸਲਾ
- ਆਤਸ਼ੀ ਅਸਲਾ (ātaśī asalā)personal weapon
Romanian armă de foc
- armă de focpersonal weapon
Russian огнестре́льное ору́жие
- огнестре́льное ору́жие (ognestrélʹnoje orúžije)personal weapon
Slovak palná zbraň
- palná zbraňpersonal weapon
Spanish arma de fuego, chimba (artisanal)
- arma de fuegopersonal weapon
- chimba (artisanal)personal weapon
- arma pírica / ígnea / ignífera / vulcaniapersonal weapon
Swahili silaha ya moto
- silaha ya motopersonal weapon
Swedish skjutvapen, eldvapen
- skjutvapenpersonal weapon
- eldvapenpersonal weapon
Tagalog sandatang pumuputok
- sandatang pumuputokpersonal weapon
Tamil சுடுகலன்
- சுடுகலன் (cuṭukalaṉ)personal weapon
Thai ปืน, ปืนไฟ
- ปืน (bpʉʉn)personal weapon
- ปืนไฟ (bpʉʉn-fai)personal weapon
- อาวุธปืน (aa-wút-bpʉʉn)personal weapon
Turkish ateşli silah
- ateşli silahpersonal weapon
Ukrainian вогнепа́льна збро́я
- вогнепа́льна збро́я (vohnepálʹna zbrója)personal weapon
Urdu آتِشی اَسْلِحَہ
- آتِشی اَسْلِحَہ (ātiśī asliha)personal weapon
Vietnamese hoả khí, vũ khí nóng
- hoả khípersonal weapon
- vũ khí nóngpersonal weapon
Welsh arf tân, arf tanio
- arf tânpersonal weapon
- arf taniopersonal weapon
- dryllpersonal weapon
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
firearm. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/firearm
“firearm.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/firearm. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “firearm,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/firearm.
Source: firearm on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.