weapon

Meaning

Noun

1. An instrument of attack or defense in combat or hunting, e.g. most guns, missiles, or swords; arm.
2. An instrument or other means of harming or exerting control over another.
3. (informal) A tool of any kind.
4. (slang) An idiot, an oaf, a fool, a tool; a contemptible or incompetent person.
5. (slang) A very skilled, competent, or capable person or thing worthy of awe.
6. (slang) The human genital organ.

Verb

To equip with a weapon; to arm.

Hyphenated as

weap‧on

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈwɛp.ən/

Etymology

From Middle English wepen, from Old English wǣpn, from Proto-West Germanic *wāpn, from Proto-Germanic *wēpną (“weapon”), of unknown origin, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *wēbnom. Cognate with Scots wapyn, wappen (“weapon”), West Frisian wapen (“weapon”), Dutch wapen (“weapon; coat of arms”), Low German wapen (“weapon”), German Waffe (“weapon”) and Wappen (“coat of arms”), Danish våben (“weapon; coat of arms”) Swedish vapen (“weapon; coat of arms”), Norwegian Bokmål våpen (“weapon”), Icelandic vopn (“weapon”).