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fusillade

/ˈfjuːsɪˌleɪd/noun, verb

fusillade is a noun meaning “The simultaneous firing of a number of firearms” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled F-U-S-I-L-L-A-D-E and has 3 syllables, and it appears about once in every 14 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of fusillade is fusillades.

What does fusillade mean?

noun

  1. 1

    The simultaneous firing of a number of firearms.

  2. 2

    A rapid burst.

verb

  1. 1

    To fire, or attack with, a fusillade.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce fusillade?

  • US /ˈfjuːsɪˌleɪd/

Fusillade has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-fusillade.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of fusillade

  • fusillades plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • fusillading participle, present
  • fusilladed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is fusillade?

Fusillade appears about once in every 14 million words in written English, the 113,022nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Fusillade in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchfusillade (the simultaneous firing of a number of firearms)
GermanGewehrfeuer, Geschützsalve, Schusswechsel, Salve (the simultaneous firing of a number of firearms)
Spanishdescarga, ráfaga (the simultaneous firing of a number of firearms), torrente (a rapid outburst)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does fusillade come from?

From French fusillade, from fusiller (“shoot with a firearm”), from fusil (“rifle, gun”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).