gun
a portable firearm, such as a rifle or revolver; also a cannon
From Middle English gonne, cannon, short for Gunnilda, a woman's name applied to a siege engine, from Old Norse Gunnhildr
In the records of munitions at Windsor Castle for 1330 is this entry: una magna balista de cornu quae vocatur Domina Gunilda.
Appropriately the two parts of the name gunnr and hildr both mean "war". Gunnr is from the I-E root gwhen- "strike" or "kill". Other related words include: BANE, GONFALON (< Ital. "battle flag"), DEFEND (< Latin defendere "ward off"), FENCE, and OFFEND, and the BAHN of AUTOBAHN
Information from AHD and OED
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