An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Kartaune

by Friedrich Kluge

Kartaune, Kartane, f., ‘short, heavy cannon,’ from Ital. quartana, MidLat. quartâna; this term, as well as its earlier ModHG. version Viertelsbüchse, signifies a gun “which fired 25 lbs., in comparison with the heaviest piece of artillery firing 100 lbs.”