Online Etymology Dictionary

S.W.A.T.: 1968, acronym for Special Weapons and Tactics squad or team; or Special Weapons Attack Team.
arm (2): "weapon," c.1300, from O.Fr. armes (pl.), 11c., from L. arma "weapons," lit. "tools, implements (of war)," from PIE base *ar- "fit, join." The notion seems to be "that which is fitted together." Meaning "heraldic insignia" (in coat of arms, etc.) is early 14c.; originally they were borne on shields of fully armed knights or barons. The verb meaning "to furnish with weapons" is from c.1200.
Iron Age: 1592, originally from Gk. and Roman mythology, the last and worst age of the world; the archaeological sense of "period in which humans used iron tools and weapons" is from 1879.
collateral damage: by 1873 in legal cases; in modern use, generally a euphemism for "the coincidental killing of civilians," U.S. coinage, c.1968, at first generally with ref. to nuclear weapons.
Browning: one of a range of U.S.-made weapons, 1905, named for inventor, John M. Browning (1855-1926) of Utah.
silver bullet: "very effective, almost magical remedy," 1808. The belief in the magical power of silver weapons to conquer foes goes back at least to ancient Greece (e.g. Delphic Oracle's advice to Philip of Macedon).
SALT: Cold War U.S.-U.S.S.R. nuclear weapons negotiations, 1968, acronym for "Strategic Arms Limitation Talks." The last element sometimes also is understood as treaty.
thermonuclear: 1938 with ref. to stars, 1953 of weapons (technically only to describe the hydrogen bomb), from thermo- + nuclear.
heriot: O.E. here-geatwe (pl.) "army-gear." An Anglo-Saxon service of weapons, loaned by the lord to his retainer and re-payable to him upon the retainer's death; transferred by 13c. to a feudal due upon the death of a tenant, payable to his lord in beasts.
deterrent: 1829, noun and adj., in Bentham, from L. deterrentem, prp. of deterrere (see deter). In reference to nuclear weapons, from 1954.
megadeath: 1953, from mega- (q.v.) + death (n.). The death of one million persons, as a measure of the effectiveness of nuclear weapons.
armament: c.1600, "munitions of war" (especially the great guns on board a man-of-war), also "naval force equipped for war" (1699), from L. armamentum, from armare "to arm, furnish with weapons" from arma (see arm (2)).
armory: "place where arms are manufactured," 1841, Amer.Eng., from arm (2). Earlier, "arsenal" (1530s) and "the science of heraldry" (late 15c.), from O.Fr. armoierie, from armoier "to blazon," from L. arma "weapons."
unwieldy: late 14c., "lacking strength," from un- (1) "not" + O.E. wielde "active, vigorous," from P.Gmc. *walth- "have power" (see wield). Meaning "moving ungracefully" is recorded from 1530; in ref. to weapons, "difficult to handle, awkward by virtue of size or shape" it is attested from 1547.
non-proliferation: 1965, from non- + proliferation; originally in ref. to nuclear weapons.
atomize: "reduce a liquid to a very fine mist," 1865, verb formed from atom + -ize. Originally in ref. to medical treatment for injured or diseased lungs; sense of "to destroy with atomic weapons" is from 1945. Related: Atomizer (1865); atomization (1866).
wapentake: division of certain Eng. counties (equivalent to a hundred in other places), O.E. wæpengetæc, from O.N. vapnatak, from vapna, gen. pl. of vapn "weapon" + tak "touching," from taka "to take, grasp." Perhaps it originally was an armed muster with inspection of weapons, or else an assembly where consent was expressed by brandishing swords and spears.
armature: 1835, from L. armatura "armor," from armatus, pp. of armare "to arm, furnish with weapons" from arma (see arm (2)). Electromagnetic sense is from 1835.
habiliment: 1422, "munitions, weapons," from M.Fr. habillement, from abiller "prepare or fit out," probably from habile "fit, suitable" (see able). Alternative etymology makes the M.Fr. verb originally mean "reduce a tree by stripping off the branches," from a- "to" + bille "stick of wood." Sense of "clothing, dress" developed 1470, by association with habit (q.v.).
loggerhead: 1588, "stupid person, blockhead," from dial. logger "heavy block of wood." Later it meant "a thick-headed iron tool" (1687), a type of cannon shot, a type of turtle (1657). Loggerheads "fighting, fisticuffs" is from 1680, but the exact notion is uncertain, perhaps it suggests the heavy tools used as weapons. The phrase at loggerheads "in disagreement" is first recorded 1831.
squad: 1649, "small number of military men detailed for some purpose," from Fr. esquade, from M.Fr. escadre, from Sp. escuadra or It. squadra "battalion," lit. "square," from V.L. *exquadra (see square). Until the introduction of automatic weapons, infantry troops tended to fight in a square formation to repel cavalry or superior forces. Sports sense is recorded from 1902.
bill (2): "bird's beak," O.E., related to bil, a poetic word for "a kind of sword" (especially one with a hooked blade), common Gmc. word for cutting weapons (cf. O.H.G. bihal, O.N. bilda "hatchet," O.S. bil "sword"), from PIE base *bhei- "to cut." Used also in M.E. of beak-like projections of land.
proliferation: 1867, "formation or development of cells," from Fr. proliferation, from prolifere "producing offspring," from L. proles "offspring" (see prolific) + ferre "to bear" (see infer). Meaning "enlargement, extension, increase" is from 1920; esp. of nuclear weapons (1966). Proliferate is a back-formation, first recorded 1873.
tactics: 1626, from Mod.L. tactica (17c.), from Gk. taktike techne "art of arrangement," noun use of fem. of taktikos "of or pertaining to arrangement," especially "tactics in war," adj. to taxis "order," verbal noun of tassein "arrange," from PIE base *tag- "to set aright." Tactical is attested in Eng. from 1570; in ref. to nuclear weapons (opposed to strategic) it is recorded from 1957.
arsenal: c.150o, "dockyard," from It. arzenale, from Arabic dar as-sina'ah "workshop," lit. "house of manufacture," from dar "house" + sina'ah "art, craft, skill," from sana'a "he made." Applied by the Venetians to a large wharf in their city, which was the earliest meaning in Eng. Sense of "public place for making or storing weapons and ammunition" is from 1570s. The London football club (1886) was named for the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, where the original players worked.
nuclear: 1846, "of or like the nucleus of a cell," from nucleus (q.v.), probably by influence of Fr. nucléaire. Use in atomic physics is from 1914; of weapons, from 1945. Hence nuclear physics (1933), nuclear energy (1941), nuclear war (1954). Nuclear winter coined by Richard Turco, but first attested in article by Carl Sagan in "Parade" magazine, Oct. 30, 1983. General sense of "central" is from 1912. Nuclear family, originally a sociologists' term, is first attested 1949 in "Social Structure," by American anthropologist G.P. Murdock (1897–1985).
bronze: 1721, "alloy of copper and tin," from Fr. bronze, from It. bronzo, from M.L. bronzium. Perhaps cognate (via notion of color) with Venetian bronza "glowing coals," or Ger. brunst "fire." Perhaps influenced by L. Brundisium the It. town of Brindisi (Pliny writes of aes Brundusinum). Perhaps ultimately from Pers. birinj "copper." In M.E., the distinction between bronze (copper-tin alloy) and brass (copper-zinc alloy) was not clear, and both were called bras. A bronze medal was given to a third-place finisher since at least 1852. The Bronze Age (1865) falls between the Stone and Iron ages, and is a reference to the principal material for making weapons and ornaments.
sting (v.): O.E. stingan "to prick with a small point" (of weapons, insects, plants, etc.), from P.Gmc. *stenganan (cf. O.N. stinga, O.H.G. stungen "to prick," Goth. us-stagg "to prick out," O.H.G. stanga, Ger. stange "pole, perch," Ger. stengel "stalk, stem"), from PIE *stengh-, nasalized form of base *stegh- "to prick, sting" (cf. O.E. stagga "stag," Gk. stokhos "pointed stake"). Specialized to insects late 15c. Slang meaning "to cheat, swindle" is from 1812. The noun is O.E. stincg, steng "act of stinging, stinging pain;" meaning "carefully planned theft or robbery" is attested from 1930; sense of "police undercover entrapment" first attested 1975. Sting ray is from 1624.
V: In M.E., -u- and -v- were used interchangeably, though with a preference for v- as the initial letter (vnder, vain, etc.) and -u- elsewhere (full, euer, etc.). The distinction into consonant and vowel identities was established in Eng. by 1630, under influence of continental printers, but into 19c. some dictionaries and other catalogues continued to list -u- and -v- words as a single series. No native Anglo-Saxon words begin in v- except those (vane, vat, vixen) altered by the southwestern England habit of replacing initial f- with v- (and initial s- with z-). Confusion of -v- and -w- was also a characteristic of 16c. Cockney accents. In Ger. rocket weapons systems of WWII, it stood for Vergeltungswaffe "reprisal weapon." V-eight as a type of motor engine is recorded from 1930 (V-engine is attested from 1924), so called for the arrangement. The V for "victory" hand sign was conceived Jan. 1941 by Belgian politician and resistance leader Victor de Laveleye, to signify Fr. victoire and Flem. vrijheid ("freedom"). It was broadcast into Europe by Radio België/Radio Belgique and popularized by the BBC by June 1941, from which time it became a universal allied gesture.
gun: mid-14c., gunne "an engine of war that throws rocks, arrows or other missiles," probably a shortening of woman's name Gunilda, found in M.E. gonnilde "cannon" and in an Anglo-L. reference to a specific gun from a 1330 munitions inventory of Windsor Castle ("...una magna balista de cornu quae Domina Gunilda ..."), from O.N. Gunnhildr, woman's name (from gunnr + hildr, both meaning "war, battle"); the identification of women with powerful weapons is common historically (cf. Big Bertha, Brown Bess, etc.); meaning shifted with technology, from cannons to firearms as they developed 15c. Great guns (cannon, etc.) distinguished from small guns (such as muskets) from c.1400. First applied to pistols and revolvers 1744. Meaning "thief, rascal" is from 1858. The verb meaning "to shoot with a gun" is from 1620s; the sense of "to accelerate an engine" is from 1930. Gun-shy is 1884, originally of sporting dogs. Son of a gun is originally nautical. Gun-metal (commonly an alloy of copper and zinc) used attributively of a dull blue-gray color since 1905. Gunboat is from 1793; gunboat diplomacy is from 1927, originally with reference to China.
Saxon: c.1300, from L.L. Saxonem (nom. Saxo), usually found in pl. Saxones, from P.Gmc. *sakhsan (cf. O.E. Seaxe, O.H.G. Sahsun, Ger. Sachse "Saxon"), with a possible literal sense of "swordsmen" (cf. O.E. seax, O.Fris., O.N. sax "knife, short sword, dagger," perhaps ult. from PIE root of saw (1)). The word figures in the well-known story, related by Geoffrey of Monmouth, who got it from Nennius, of the treacherous slaughter by the Anglo-Saxons of their British hosts:
"Accordingly they all met at the time and place appointed, and began to treat of peace; and when a fit opportunity offered for executing his villany, Hengist cried out, "Nemet oure Saxas," and the same instant seized Vortigern, and held him by his cloak. The Saxons, upon the signal given, drew their daggers, and falling upon the princes, who little suspected any such design, assassinated them to the number of four hundred and sixty barons and consuls ...."
OED helpfully points out that the correct O.E. (with an uninflected plural) would be nimað eowre seax. For other national names that may have derived from characteristic tribal weapons, cf. Frank, Lombard. Still in 20c. used by Celtic speakers to mean "an Englishman." In ref. to the modern Ger. state of Saxony (Ger. Sachsen, Fr. Saxe) it is attested from 1634. Saxon is the source of the -sex in Essex, Sussex, etc. (cf. Middlesex, from O.E. Middel-Seaxe "Middle Saxons"). Bede distinguished the Anglo-Saxons, who conquered much of southern Britain, from the Eealdesaxe "Old Saxons," who stayed in Germany.