Dictionary

shootist en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewd- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *(s)kéwdeti? Proto-Germanic *skuttōnąbf.? Proto-Germanic *skeutaną Proto-West Germanic *skeutan Old English sċēotan Middle English schoten English shoot Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Hellenic *-tās Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs) Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)bor. Latin -istader. Old French -istebor. Middle English -ist English -ist English shootist From shoot + -ist.

Meanings

1. (US, archaic) A person who is an expert user of firearms, especially a sharpshooter or a gunslinger in the Old West.
   • Not being a "shootist," I cannot lay the bird before you. 1895, O. Widmann, “An Hour with Baird's and Leconte's Sparrows near St. Louis, Missouri”, in The Auk, volume 12, number 3, page 94:
   • Such terminations in -ist were very common at one time; my collection includes swimmist, sparrist, ballist, walkist, shootist, saloonist, and several others. 1947, Charles J. Lovell, “The Background of Mark Twain's Vocabulary”, in American Speech, volume 22, number 2, page 94:

Forms