 The name comes from its first users — cavalry troopers called "carabiniers", from the French "carabine", from Old French "carabin" (soldier armed with a musket), whose origin is unclear.One theory connects it to an "ancient engine of war" called a "calabre"; another connects it to Medieval Latin "Calabrinus" 'Calabrian'; yet another, "less likely", to "escarrabin", gravedigger, from the scarab beetle.The carbine was originally developed for cavalry.