ricochet
UK[ˈrɪkəʃeɪ]US[ˈrɪkəʃeɪ]
v
(of a bullet, stone, or other projectile) to rebound off a surface one or more times.
n
a shot or hit that rebounds off a surface.
Etymology
The word 'ricochet' entered English in the 18th century from the French military term of the same spelling. The French word likely originated from the Old French verb 'ricocher', meaning 'to graze, to skip like a flat stone on water'. Its ultimate origin is uncertain but is thought to be imitative or expressive, possibly related to the repetitive, skipping sound or motion of the object. The term was adopted into English to describe the specific ballistic phenomenon of a projectile rebounding or skipping off a hard surface, capturing the core idea of a glancing, repeated contact from its original French sense.
Analysis
This word is a loanword from French and is not productively formed from separable English morphemes. Its structure is not segmentable within the rules of English word formation.
Examples
The bullet ricocheted off the metal door with a loud whine.
He was injured not by a direct hit but by a dangerous ricochet.
Stones ricocheted across the surface of the frozen pond.