cannon (n.)

late 14c., "long slender woody stem," from Old French cane "reed, cane, spear" (13c., Modern French canne), from Latin canna "reed, cane," from Greek kanna, perhaps from Babylonian-Assyrian qanu "tube, reed" (compare Hebrew qaneh, Arabic qanah "reed"), which may come from Sumerian-Akkadian gin "reed." The sense of "length of cane used as a walking stick" is from 1580s.

"a continued discharge of artillery," 1650s, from cannon + -ade. As a verb, "attack with artillery," from 1660s. Compare French canonnade (16c.), Italian cannonata. Related: Cannonaded; cannonading.