Gunman Is a Journalistic Word
A gunman is a man armed with a gun, especially a criminal one. The word belongs almost entirely to news reporting.
A gunman is a man with a gun, particularly one committing a crime. The word lives almost exclusively in journalism, where it does a specific job: it identifies an armed attacker without asserting a motive or a legal conclusion. Newsrooms reach for it precisely because it says less than *terrorist*, *murderer* or *soldier*.
- An armed criminal. *A lone gunman.*
- Gunmen — the plural. *Masked gunmen.*
- Hired gun — a paid specialist. *Brought in as a hired gun.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | gunman | A lone gunman. |
| Plural | gunmen | Two gunmen. |
| Related | gunfire | Heard gunfire. |
| Related | gunshot | A single gunshot. |
| Related | shooter | An active shooter. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Police are searching for the gunman.News reporting.
- A hired gun was brought in.Figurative: a paid expert.
- Gun comes from a woman's name.See below.
Where *gun* comes from
- Domina Gunilda — the name given to a large medieval siege engine
- Gunnhildr — a Norse woman's name meaning war-battle
- Nicknaming weapons — a long tradition, from Mons Meg to Big Bertha
- Gunwale — the ship's rail where guns were mounted
- Gunner — one who operates artillery
A compound of *gun* and *man*. *Gun* probably comes from the Norse female name Gunnhildr, applied to a large medieval engine of war.
Is *gun* really named after a woman?
Probably. A fourteenth-century siege engine was recorded as Domina Gunilda, and the nickname appears to have generalised.
Why do newsrooms use *gunman*?
Because it describes what is known — an armed man — without implying a motive or a legal verdict.