Caliver vs. Musket — What's the Difference?

(historical) A type of light musket.

A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating heavy armor. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket went out of use as heavy armor declined, but the term musket continued as the name given for any hand held long gun until the mid-19th century.

An early form of hand gun, a variety of the arquebus; originally a gun having a regular size of bore.

A smoothbore shoulder gun used from the late 1500s through the early 1800s.

A kind of firearm formerly carried by the infantry of an army, originally fired by means of a match, or matchlock, for which several mechanical appliances (including the flintlock, and finally the percussion lock) were successively substituted; ultimately superseded by the rifle.

(falconry) A male Eurasian sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus).

The male of the sparrow hawk.

A species of firearm formerly carried by the infantry of an army. It was originally fired by means of a match, or matchlock, for which several mechanical appliances (including the flintlock, and finally the percussion lock) were successively substituted. This arm has been completely superseded by the rifle, and is now only of historical interest.

A muzzle-loading shoulder gun with a long barrel; formerly used by infantrymen