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Origin and history of bayonet

bayonet(n.)

1610s, originally a type of flat dagger; as a soldiers' steel stabbing weapon fitted to the muzzle of a firearm, from 1670s, from French baionnette (16c.), said to be from Bayonne, city in Gascony where supposedly they first were made; or perhaps it is a diminutive of Old French bayon "crossbow bolt." The city name is from Late Latin baia "bay" (which was borrowed into Basque from Spanish) + Basque on "good." As a verb from c. 1700.

also from 1610s

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pugilist
Pugil stick (1962) was introduced by U.S. military as a substitute for rifles in bayonet drills....UNTIL recently bayonet training has lacked realism....Bayonet instruction consisted of basic positions and movements, the fundamentals of bayonet fighting, and a practical examination...conducted on the Bayonet Assault Course....
pike
"Formerly the chief weapon of a large part of the infantry; in the 18th c. superseded by the bayonet" [OED]; hence old expressions...
whitey
It is quite a change to see, in Norfolk, negroes forcing white men to work, at the point of the bayonet; calling out to them...
fear
was often at first in colonial contexts: Thus then we seek to put "the fear of God" into the natives at the point of the bayonet...
knife
"hand-held cutting instrument consisting of a short blade and handle," late Old English cnif, probably from Old Norse knifr "knife, dirk," from Proto-Germanic *knibaz (source also of Middle Low German knif, Middle Dutch cnijf, German kneif), a word of uncertain origin. To further
solemn
mid-14c., solemne, solempne, "performed with due religious ceremony or reverence; sacred, devoted to religious observances," also, of a vow, etc., "made under religious sanction, binding," from Old French solempne, solemne (12c., Modern French solennel) and directly from Latin so
Tuesday
third day of the week, Old English tiwesdæg, from Tiwes, genitive of Tiw "Tiu," from Proto-Germanic *Tiwaz "god of the sky," the original supreme deity of ancient Germanic mythology, differentiated specifically as Tiu, ancient Germanic god of war, from PIE *deiwos "god," from roo
Platonic
1530s, "of or pertaining to Greek philosopher Plato" (429 B.C.E.-c. 347 B.C.E.), from Latin Platonicus, from Greek Platōnikos. The name is Greek Platōn, a nickname in reference to his broad shoulders (from platys "broad;" from PIE root *plat- "to spread"); his original name was A
prerogative
"special right or privilege granted to someone; characteristic right inhering in one's nature, office, or position," late 14c., prerogatif, (in Anglo-Latin from late 13c.), from Old French prerogative (14c.) and directly from Medieval Latin prerogativa "special right," from Latin
iris
late 14c. as the name of a flowering plant (Iris germanica); early 15c. in reference to the eye membrane, from Latin iris (plural irides) "iris of the eye; iris plant; rainbow," from Greek iris (genitive iridos) "a rainbow;" also "iris plant" and "iris of the eye," a word of unce

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